AAMC Inaugural Mentoring Program Participants Announced

For Immediate Release:

ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM CURATORS ANNOUNCES THE 2013 PARTICIPANTS OF INAUGURAL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

New York, NY – January 11, 2013 – The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) is proud to announce the selection of the participants in the inaugural year of the AAMC Mentorship Program.

The 12-month program, including eight mentor/mentee pairs, will begin this month and be overseen by a task force of AAMC Board members who will provide ongoing support and evaluation to assist all participants throughout the year. In addition, Jennifer Russell, Associate Director for Exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and former Senior Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Museum of Modern Art, will contribute to the program by advising mentors and mentees.  AAMC President Carol S. Eliel remarks, "The AAMC developed this pilot program to foster deeper exchanges than we have previously offered between junior or mid-career career curators and senior professionals in the field. Each will benefit from the continued interaction and professional guidance.” The mentors and mentees were matched based on criteria ranging from field and discipline-based interests, knowledge of exhibitions practices, administrative experience, and expertise in different institutional models.  

This year’s mentors and mentees include:

Andaleeb Badiee Banta, Assistant Curator of Old Master Prints & Drawings, National Gallery of Art

MENTOR: Jay Clarke, Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Sterling and Francine Clark Institute

Virginia Brilliant, Curator of European Art, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art

MENTOR: Lawrence W. Nichols, William Hutton Senior Curator, European and American Painting and Sculpture before 1900, Toledo Museum of Art

Lisa Cakmak, Mellon Fellow in Ancient Art, Saint Louis Art Museum

MENTOR: Rita Freed, John F. Cogan Jr. and Mary L. Cornille Chair, Art of the Ancient World, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Xandra Eden, Curator of Exhibitions, Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

MENTOR: Connie Butler, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings, The Museum of Modern Art

Sandra Q. Firmin, Curator, University of Buffalo Art Gallery

MENTOR: John W. Coffey, Deputy Director for Art and Curator of American and Modern Art, North Carolina Museum of Art 

Catrina Hill, Exhibition Assistant Curator, Peabody Essex Museum

MENTOR: Mark Scala, Chief Curator, Frist Center for Visual Arts

Marisa J. Pascucci, Curator of 20^th Century & Contemporary Art, Boca Raton Museum of Art

MENTOR: Mary-Kay Lombino, Emily Hargroves Fisher '57 and Richard B. Fisher Curator and Assistant Director, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Curator, Vassar College 

Anne Collins Smith, Curator of Collections, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art

MENTOR: Catherine Futter, Helen Jane and R. Hugh "Pat” Uhlmann Curator of Decorative Arts, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

About the AAMC

The mission of the Association of Art Museum Curators is to support and promote the work of museum curators by creating opportunities for networking, collaboration, professional development, and advancement.

In support of these aims, the AAMC Foundation seeks to heighten public understanding of the curator's role in art museums through professional development programs, awards, and grants.

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