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The Portland Art Museum has a new curator of modern and contemporary art

By Barry Johnson
June 30, 2015
News & Notes, Visual Art

The Portland Art Museum has a new curator of modern and contemporary art. She’s Sara Krajewski, who has been director of the INOVA (Institute of Visual Arts) galleries at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (where she received her undergraduate degree) since 2012. Previously, though, she was curator at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Wash., so she has some familiarity with the Northwest, and she held curatorial positions at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and Harvard University Art Museum.

Krajewski and museum director (and chief curator) Brian Ferriso go back almost 20 years, to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, and Ferriso has followed her career closely since then, especially the eight years she spent at the Henry, where she organized nearly 40 exhibitions of contemporary art and photography, including the traveling exhibition Image Transfer: Pictures in a Remix Culture.

Sara Krajewski is the new curator of modern and contemporary art at the Portland Art Museum.

Sara Krajewski is the new curator of modern and contemporary art at the Portland Art Museum.

“Portland is a dynamic and creative community that is poised for growth,” Krajewski said in the press release announcing her appointment. “This is an exciting time to move here and engage with this constituency. I look forward to getting to know the Museum’s collection in more depth, and working with the curatorial team to expand it.”

Krajewski will begin her position at the Portland Art Museum on Monday, August 31.

The museum released other important news, led by retirement of Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, the museum’s curator of Northwest Art since 2010. Laing-Malcolmson will serve will continue in post until June 30, 2016, after the closing of 2015 Contemporary Northwest Art Awards (February 13 – May 8, 2016). The Museum will conduct a search for her replacement regionally as well as nationwide.

Mary Weaver Chapin has a new job title at the Museum: Curator of Prints and Drawings, a more accurate reflection of her responsibilities than the previous one, Curator of Graphic Arts, according to Ferriso. European Art curator Dawson Carr has had his job extended 50 years: His scope did end at 1850, and now he’s in charge up until 1900. Donald Urquhart has been promoted to Director of Collections and Exhibitions, an expanded role he has performed since October 2014. And Samantha Springer will be the new full-time conservator at the Portland Art Museum. Previously, the conservator position was a part-time position.

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