2023 CURATORIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE ANNOUNCED

2023 CURATORIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE ANNOUNCED

Association of Art Museum Curators Honors Achievements in the Field

New York, NY, May 7, 2023 —The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) announced their 2023 Awards for Excellence recipients during a celebration held in NYC.   The Awards for Excellence, highly esteemed by art curators everywhere, are the only accolades by which curators directly honor their colleagues. 

Nearly 175 nominations were submitted and vetted by curator jurors from around the world, with importance placed upon how each entry reflected AAMC’s core values of inclusion, access, dialogue, and engagement.

“Each year it is a privilege to celebrate the work of curators that have advanced new methodologies, scholarship, and inclusion and access within the arts,” said Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation, “It is thrilling to recognize this year’s awardees in-person, and acknowledge the dynamic dialogues and broader engagement their work has sought to achieve.”

Eleven projects were honored: 

• Myths of the West: Narrating Stories of the Land and People through Wichita Art Collections at the Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University for exhibition (organizational operating budget up to $10 million)

• Storied Objects: Métis Art in Relation at the Remai Modern for exhibition (organizational operating budget between $10 - $30 million, tied for the award)

• Talking Back to Power: Projects by Aram Han Sifuentes at the Skirball Cultural Center for exhibition (organizational operating budget between $10 - $30 million, tied for the award)

• On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America at the Peabody Essex Museum for exhibition (organizational operating budget above $30 million)

• African Modernism in America at the Fisk University Galleries for publication (organizational operating budget up to $10 million)

• Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilmuseum St. Gallen at the Bard Graduate Center for publication (organizational operating budget between $10 - $30 million)

• Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for publication (organizational operating budget above $30 million)

• Joseph Urban: Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom at the Cincinnati Art Museum for digital exhibition

• Unpacking the Universe: The Making of an Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for digital program

• Masterpieces from the Clowes Collection: Paintings at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for digital publication

• El Corazón Aúlla (Heart Howls): Latin American Feminist Performance in Revolt at The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation for non-catalog publication

Awarded lead curators were Doris Berger, George Bolster, Julia Burtenshaw, Sarah Chasse, Rhea Combs, Emma Cormack, Amy Dehan, Amanda Dotseth, Jacquelyn Coutre, Ksenya Gurshtein, Tarah Hogue, Karen Kramer,  Perrin Lathrop, Michele Majer, Diana Magaloni, Laura Mart, Tatiana Muñoz, Lan Morgan, Sherry Farrell Racette, Annette Schlagenhauff, Jamaal Sheats, and Kjell Wangensteen. A short film featuring each Awardee sharing their inspiration is available for download here.

The announcement party was part of AAMC’s larger series of events and gatherings held during the Art Curators Conference.  The Conference, created and presented annually by the Association of Art Museum Curators, is the singular largest gathering of curators from around the world.

The 2023 Art Curators Conference sponsors and supporters are, (listed by level, alphabetically): Schoelkopf Gallery, Bard Graduate Center, Sotheby’s, Hauser & Wirth, Lehmann Maupin, R & Company, Freeman’s Auction, James Howell Foundation, UOVO, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, Armstrong Fine Art Services, Betty Krulik Fine Art, DIETL International, International Society of Appraisers, Jonathan Boos, Kasmin Gallery, Masterpiece International, Miles McEnery Gallery, Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers, Absolute Museum & Gallery Products Ltd., Cristin Tierney Gallery, Debra Force Fine Art, Hutchinson Modern & Contemporary, Jessica Silverman Gallery, TEFAF; and individual donors (listed by level, alphabetically): Evelyn and David Lasry, María Eugenia Maury, El Museo del Barrio & Karla Harwich, El Museo del Barrio, Rosa Lowinger, and Cole Rogers.

2023 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE LISTING

Exhibition (Organizational Operating Budget up to $10 Million)

Myths of the West: Narrating Stories of the Land and People through Wichita Art Collections, 

Ulrich Museum of Art

Lead Curator

Ksenya Gurshtein, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Urich Museum of Art, Wichita State University

Additional Project Lead

Josh Cornett, Mary Joan Waid / Steve Overstreet Curatorial Intern, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University

Exhibition (Organizational Operating Budget of $10 – $30 Million)

Storied Objects: Métis Art in Relation

Remai Modern

Lead Curators

Tarah Hogue, Curator (Indigenous Art), Remai Modern

Sherry Farrell Racette, Faculty of Media, Art and Performance, University of Regina

Exhibition (Organizational Operating Budget of $10 – $30 Million)

Talking Back to Power: Projects by Aram Han Sifuentes

Skirball Cultural Center

Lead Curator

Laura Mart, Associate Curator, Skirball Cultural Center

Additional Project Lead

Aram Han Sifuentes, Artist 

Exhibition (Organizational Operating Budget above $30 Million)

On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America

Peabody Essex Museum

Lead Curators

Sarah Chasse, Associate Curator, Peabody Essex Museum

Karen Kramer, The Stuart W. and Elizabeth F. Pratt Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum

Lan Morgan, Assistant Curator, Peabody Essex Museum

Additional Project Leads

Rebecca Bednarz, Editor for Curatorial Initiatives, Peabody Essex Museum

Mollie Denhard, Exhibition Preparator, Peabody Essex Museum

Adrienne Lalli Hills, Independent Consultant

Caitlin Lowrie, Senior Manager, Exhibition Planning, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

David Seibert, Exhibition Designer, Peabody Essex Museum 

Kathryn Smith, Associate Registrar, Peabody Essex Museum

Jackie Traynor, Exhibition Graphic Designer, Peabody Essex Museum

Chip Van Dyke, Associate Director of Media Production, Peabody Essex Museum

Publication (Organizational Operating Budget up to $10 Million)

African Modernism in America

Fisk University Galleries

Lead Curators

Perrin Lathrop, Assistant Curator of African Art, Princeton University Art Museum

Jamaal Sheats, Director and Curator, Fisk University Galleries

Additional Project Lead

Nikoo Paydar, Independent Curator, former Associate Curator, Fisk University Galleries

Publication (Organizational Operating Budget of $10 – $30 Million)

Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilmuseum St. Gallen

Bard Graduate Center

Lead Curators

Emma Cormack, Associate Curator, Bard Graduate Center

Michele Majer, Professor Emerita, Bard Graduate Center

Publication (Organizational Operating Budget above $30 Million)

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Lead Curators

Doris Berger, Vice President, Curatorial Affairs, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Rhea Combs, Director, Curatorial Affairs, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

Digital Exhibition

Joseph Urban: Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom

Cincinnati Art Museum

Lead Curator

Amy Dehan, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design, Cincinnati Art Museum

Additional Project Leads

Emily Holthrop, Director of Learning & Interpretation, Cincinnati Art Museum

Doug Hovekamp, Executive Creative Director, MOJO PSG

Talia Shiroma, Curatorial Assistant, Arts of the Americas and Europe, Brooklyn Museum

Digital Program 

Unpacking the Universe: The Making of an Exhibition

Los Angeles County Museum of Art 

Lead Curators

Julia Burtenshaw, Associate Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art 

Diana Magaloni, Deputy Director, Program Director and Dr. Virginia Fields Curator of the Art of the Ancient Americas, Suzanne D. Booth and David G. Booth Conservation Center Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Additional Project Leads

Alexa Schultz, Screenwriter and Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Agnes Stauber, VP, Digital Content and Strategy, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Digital Publication 

Masterpieces from the Clowes Collection: Paintings

Indianapolis Museum of Art

Lead Curators

Jacquelyn Coutre, Eleanor Wood Prince Associate Curator, Art Institute of Chicago

Amanda Dotseth, Linda P. and William A. Custard Director, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University

Annette Schlagenhauff, Curator of European Art, 1800-1945, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Kjell Wangensteen, Associate Curator of American Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Additional Project Lead

Dylan Jensen, Editor and Manager of Publications, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Non-Catalog Publication

El Corazón Aúlla (Heart Howls): Latin American Feminist Performance in Revolt

The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

Lead Curators

George Bolster, Curator, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

Tatiana Muñoz, Curator, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

Additional Project Lead

Anjuli Nanda Diamond, Executive Director, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

ABOUT AAMC & AAMC FOUNDATION 

The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) & AAMC Foundation supports, values, and advances the work of nonprofit art curators at all stages of their careers through leadership and connectivity. The organization’s work is grounded on diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) and seeks to recognize the full breadth of a person’s lived experience, self-identification (gender, ethnic, racial, and ability), and socio-economic background. We are a compelling leader and resource for those who care about the role of curators as agents of change, social impact, and multicultural understanding. Founded in 2001, the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) today has over 1,500 members 

from over 500+ institutions in over 40 countries. 

CONTACT

Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, judith.pineiro@artcurators.org

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