Art Museum appoints new director
Susan Taylor has been named director of the Art Museum.
Currently director of the Davis Museum and Cultural Center
at Wellesley College, she will take up her Princeton
position in August.
At Wellesley, Taylor has overseen acquisitions,
exhibitions and programs. A highlight of her 12-year tenure
was the construction of a new building designed by Rafael
Moneo. Taylor served as project director for this building,
developing the program plan for the 61,000 square foot
facility, which includes a cinema and cafe as well as
permanent and temporary exhibition galleries and study areas
for prints, drawings and photographs.
She has also been responsible for building the collection
in many areas, including the acquisition of numerous works
of contemporary art, an area in which she is particularly
interested.
Before going to Wellesley, Taylor was at the Guggenheim
Museum in New York City, where she coordinated several major
national and international exhibitions. She received her BA
at Vassar College and her graduate degree from the Institute
of Fine Arts, New York University.
An active member of the Association of Art Museum
Directors, she currently serves on the board as chair of the
Professional Issues Committee. She is also on the Executive
Committee of the board of the American Federation of the
Arts and chairs the Museum Services Committee. Since 1992,
she has been a member of the visiting committee of the
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College.
At Wellesley, she teaches a course on museum issues, and
she has lectured and consulted on new museum architecture
and design, issues in public art, and architect and artist
collaborations in the private and public sectors.
Infectious energy
In announcing Taylor's appointment, President Shapiro
said, "Susan Taylor brings to the directorship of the Art
Museum not only an impressive record of achievement and
breadth of experience but also an infectious energy and
sense of possibility. Under her leadership, I believe we
will see exciting new things happening at the museum,
particularly in programming and in the development of new
relationships with students, faculty and alumni, as well as
with the museum's other constituencies beyond the
campus."
Provost Jeremiah Ostriker, who has direct responsibility
for oversight of the museum, said, "I am particularly
impressed by the clarity of Susan Taylor's vision for the
museum. It will be important to provide her with the
resources she needs to realize that vision. We have already
begun to do that, and I look forward to a continuing and
fruitful collaboration with her."
In accepting the appointment, Taylor said, "I'm delighted
to be joining the Princeton community, and I look forward to
working with a talented staff, gifted faculty and an
administration committed to realizing the potential of a
great museum."
The Art Museum, which houses an encyclopedic collection
of more than 50,000 objects and welcomes almost 100,000
visitors annually, not only supports the teaching and
research needs of the University but also serves as an
important regional cultural resource. Peter Bunnell, McAlpin
Professor of the History of Photography and Modern Art, has
been acting director since the retirement of Director
Emeritus Allen Rosenbaum.
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