Jennifer Russell Named Associate Director for Exhibitions at MMA
By STAN PARCHIN
March 10, 2010
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| The Metropolitan Museum of Art (exterior) (2006). Photograph courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Jennifer Russell as its new Associate Director for Exhibitions, effective April 26, 2010. A former staff member, she succeeds Mahrukh Tarapor, who held the position for more than 15 years.
ExperienceJennifer Russell began her museum career in 1974 as a curatorial assistant at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She was Assistant Curator from 1976 to 1978, Special Assistant to the Director for Curatorial Affairs from 1978 to 1980, Assistant Director from 1980 to 1986 and Associate Director and Secretary from 1986 to 1990 (a role she returned to in 1992 after a year's service, from 1990 to 1991, as Acting Director). She also served as Deputy Director for Internal Affairs and Secretary to the Board of Trustees until her departure from the Whitney in 1993. Russell was responsible for a number of special exhibitions, including
American Art, 1900-1940 (1976),
American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (1980),
Celebrating Calder (1991) and
Selections from the Permanent Collection, 1938-1946 (1993).
As Associate Director for Administration at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1993 to 1996, Russell coordinated activities for all departments reporting to the Director, including curatorial, conservation, publications and the libraries. Among her projects were many related to construction and space planning for major gallery renovations, other capital initiatives and the computerization of collection data.
Russell joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1996 as its Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Collections Support. She was promoted in 2005 to Senior Deputy Director for Exhibitions, Collections and Programs. In this capacity, she oversees MoMA's annual program of more than 30 shows and develops collaborations with other museums in the United States and abroad on jointly organized exhibitions. She helped the staff planning and design team for the museum's 2004 expansion and oversaw the permanent collection's move to and from MoMA Queens, including its schedule of reinstallation in the new Manhattan building.
Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, said, "I am delighted to welcome back a colleague with extensive experience in the New York museum community and in exhibition planning on a local as well as national and international scale. Jennifer Russell brings significant managerial experience, sound sense and wide-ranging contacts, all of which are essential to sustaining and developing the encyclopedic breath, scale and quality of the Met's unique and world-renowned exhibition program."