The LSU Museum of Art recently hired Courtney Taylor as the museum’s new Curator. With this position, Taylor will be responsible for developing and overseeing exhibitions.
Taylor has worked in the field since 2008, when she interned for a number of art galleries in her home state of Arkansas.
“I curated my first exhibition as an undergraduate student,” she said. “From that experience, I knew that exhibitions were the particular part of the museum field in which I wanted to work.”
She went on to contribute on curatorial teams at Gilcrease Museum and Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida, before becoming Curator of the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, where she helped organize 12 distinct exhibitions per year.
While a large part of her role at the LSU Museum of Art will focus on selecting works for display and developing in-gallery interpretive content, Taylor said the exhibitions don’t stop there.
“I’ll work closely with the collections, education and development departments,” she said. “As a team, we’ll develop the permanent collection through acquisitions, plan and implement programming related to exhibitions and work with donors.”
The museum’s current exhibition, the Hunt Slonem: Antebellum Pop! exhibition, sees New York-based painter Hunt Slonem’s strong ties to Louisiana art and culture come to life in a setting evocative of a plantation home. This exhibit will be open through August 5.
Two additional exhibitions are scheduled for the remainder of 2016.
First, Japanese artist Iwasaki Tsuneo’s work will be displayed, based on research by LSU professor of philosophy and religious studies Paula Arai. This exhibition will feature Tsuneo’s scroll paintings, which merge traditional Japanese art with Buddhist scripture, as well as a Zen garden and opportunities for yoga and meditation.
Later in the year, an exhibition featuring the imaginative paintings of Elliott Daingerfield will be held.
“The LSU Museum of Art holds one of the largest university-held collections in the South,” Taylor said. “It’s a great resource for students interested in a range of art from Chinese jade to decorative arts and early American portraits to contemporary art.”
Some galleries have recently been reinstalled to the museum’s permanent collection, focusing on decorative and fine art of Louisiana from the colonial era to today.
In addition to Taylor, the museum also recently hired Brandi Simmons as its Communications Coordinator and Brian Morfitt as Preparator.
Admission to the LSU Museum of Art is free to all University students.