RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
MUSEUMS
The METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART in New York hired its first associate curator of Native American art , Patricia Marroquin Norby , PhD ( Purépecha / Chicana ). Previously she was the assistant director and senior executive curator at the National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York and the director of the D ’ Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies in Chicago . She earned her doctoral degree in American studies from the University of Minnesota , Twin Cities , and her MFA degree at the University of Wisconsin , Madison . Norby ’ s hiring marks the first time in the Met ’ s 150-year history that a fulltime staff member will curate Native American art .
The AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST in Los Angeles hired Stephen Aron as its new president and CEO . Aron recently served as a history professor at the University of California , Los Angeles , and previously served as the Autry Museum ’ s founding executive director . Aron earned his doctoral and master ’ s degrees from the University of California , Berkeley . He replaces W . Richard West Jr . ( Southern Cheyenne ), who is retiring ; however , West will assist the museum in its transition through June 2021 .
Jonathan Batkin retired as director of the WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN in Santa Fe in April 2020 . In recognition of his 30 years serving as director , the board named him director emeritus . Jean Higgins , who has served as assistant to the director for the past five years , is the museum ’ s new interim director . Previously Higgins served as executive assistant at Costco Whole and earned her bachelor ’ s degree in psychology from the University of Maine , Orono .
Isleta Pueblo ’ s new cultural center , YONAN AN CULTURAL COMPLEX in Isleta Village , New Mexico , has hired Cassy Smith as its archivist . Smith and her colleagues in the pueblo ’ s department of cultural preservation will create “ History from the Land ,” a multimedia experiential collaboration with Isleta elders and youth .
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community ( SMSC ) has funded a full-time , year-long fellowship at the MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART ( Mia ) in Minnesota for 2020 and 2021 . The tribe has funded part-time fellowships in the past ; however , to help Indigenous curators gain experience , they launched the full-time fellowship this year . The fellow will work with Jill Ahlberg Yohe , Mia ’ s associate curator of Native American art , to study all aspects of professional curation firsthand .
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