LAS VEGAS, NEV.- The Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas has hired Josef Diaz as Curator of History and Material Culture for the organization. This position is the most senior curator role and is part of the Division of Museums and History within the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. This work includes preservation, research, and programming of state’s collection of artifacts focusing on Southern Nevada and the surrounding regions.

Mr. Diaz’s background includes over fifteen years’ experience in curation, fundraising, exhibition development, and museum administration.

A scholar in the art and history of the Spanish Colonial Southwest and Mexico, Díaz has excelled as a curator, author, and editor at the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors. His most recent exhibitions, each of which included companion books, were Fractured Faiths: Spanish Judaism, the Inquisition, and New World Identities; and Painting the Divine: Images of Mary in the New World. The book accompanying Fractured Faiths won first place in the category of Judaism in the Independent Press Award program. He played a collaborative role in development of the History Museum’s long-term exhibit, Telling New Mexico and curated the Palace’s Tesoros de Devoción, an exquisite collection of eighteenth and early nineteenth century New Mexican religious sculpture. Most recently, he has overseen an effort to examine the museum’s famed Segesser Hides with high-tech equipment. He is also the author of The Art & Legacy of Bernardo Miera y Pacheco: New Spain's Explorer, Cartographer, and Artist.

“I'm thrilled to be joining the talented and growing staff at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, and to be able to build and expand on the great work that has been done," Díaz said. “I look forward to working with director, Hollis J. Gillespie and curator Maggie Bukowski in developing thought-provoking programs and exhibitions and getting to know the community.”