GREENWICH, CONN.- The Bruce Museum, a community-based, world-class institution that promotes the understanding and appreciation of art and science to enrich the lives of all people, announces the appointment of Margarita Karasoulas as Curator of Art. Coming from the Brooklyn Museum, where she has served as Assistant Curator of American Art since 2017, Karasoulas will assume her duties with the Bruce on November 29, 2021.
In this new role, Karasoulas will be responsible for organizing exhibitions of major historic and contemporary artists, building the permanent collection, and collaborating with curators, designers, program staff, and Museum and Board leaders to create new paradigms supporting the Bruce’s mission to present exhibitions in thoughtful, imaginative, and surprising ways.
Karasoulas will be immediately engaged in preparations for the inaugural exhibitions that will open the newly expanded Museum in late 2022. The Museum’s $60 million building project will double the size of the existing building and include new, modern, and spacious galleries for exhibitions and installations, as well as state-of-the-art spaces for education and community events.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Margarita as Curator of Art,” said Robert Wolterstorff, The Susan E. Lynch Executive Director of the Bruce Museum. “She shares our vision of moving the Bruce’s exhibitions and collection forward in the direction of global Modern and Contemporary art, while embracing our wonderful historical collections. The knowledge, experience, and forward-thinking approach she brings to this new role are invaluable, and I look forward to working with her as we prepare to enter a new era at the Bruce.”
Karasoulas was the Bruce’s Zvi Grunberg Resident Intern in 2012-2013 and returned in 2016 to guest curate Electric Paris, an exhibition exploring the period of transition from gas to electric lighting in Paris and its aesthetic impact on the portrayals of public spaces and private interiors in late 19th- and early 20th-century paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings.
“I have long been impressed by the Bruce Museum’s history of presenting ambitious, scholarly exhibitions, as well as its interdisciplinary approach to art and science,” said Karasoulas. “Returning to the Bruce in this new capacity is an exciting opportunity to help advance the Museum’s mission at this pivotal moment. I’m very much looking forward to working closely with staff and Museum leadership to build and diversify its collection, expand its exhibition program, and further strengthen the Museum’s presence within the community of Greenwich and beyond.”
In addition to her role as Assistant Curator of American Art at the Brooklyn Museum, Karasoulas has also served as its Interim Head of the Department of American Art. For the Brooklyn Museum, she curated William Trost Richards: Experiments in Watercolor (2018) and Rob Wynne: FLOAT (2018), and was a key member of the curatorial team that reinstalled the Luce Center for American Art (2020). She also contributed to the cross-collection exhibitions African Arts—Global Conversations (2020) and Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire is Applied To A Stone It Cracks (2020). Her previous roles include Alfred Appel, Jr. Curatorial Fellow at the Delaware Art Museum and Curatorial Research Assistant at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, TX. A specialist in 19th- and early 20th-century American art, with a particular focus on early American modernism, issues of race and representation, and the history of photography, Karasoulas received a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Delaware and holds an M.A. in art history from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in art history and history from Lafayette College.
For the nationwide search, the Museum retained executive search consultants Museum Search & Reference
