ALBANY, NY.- The University Art Museum (UAM) at the University at Albany is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Robert R. Shane as Associate Curator, effective June 1, 2023. With a diverse background in art history, art criticism, and teaching, Shane brings a unique perspective to the UAM, bridging the gap between the museum and the academy. His extensive teaching experience includes a wide range of art history and philosophy courses specializing in themes related to labor, class, ethics, ecology, and the intersections between art and dance. As a scholar, writer, curator, and educator with twenty years of teaching experience in higher education, he has actively integrated these timely subjects into the museum environment.

“Robert’s expertise unites art and artists in dynamic ways, empowering viewers to engage with contemporary art, both informing and challenging conventional narratives,” says Corinna Ripps Schaming, UAM Director and Chief Curator. “His dedication to encouraging meaningful interactions between students and the art we present as well as providing rigorous intellectual context for our exhibitions plays a central role in advancing the UAM’s artist- driven program and supporting UAlbany’s commitment to student success and research excellence.”

Shane has served as the UAM’s part-time Associate Curator since 2022, providing research, scholarly texts, and curatorial support for exhibitions by such artists as Carrie Mae Weems, Ronny Quevedo, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and Sara Magenheimer.
Now, as the UAM’s first full-time Associate Curator, he will concentrate on planning and implementing exhibitions and other projects that both reflect and engage the University’s globally diverse student demographic.

Additionally, he is charged with advancing interdisciplinary research and scholarship, while actively sharing his expertise with UAlbany faculty, staff, and students.
When asked about what he is looking forward to most in this new position, Shane said, “The UAM’s artist- centered approach to exhibition-making aligns with my engagement with contemporary art. As a curator and writer, I feel I’m an ambassador for the artists we exhibit and the vital stories their works tell. I look forward to serving alongside the UAM’s exceptional team to help realize new exhibitions and artist commissions and to share our artists’ stories with the many audiences we serve, especially UAlbany’s 18,000 students.”

In addition to his academic achievements, Shane is a well-regarded art writer contributing scholarly essays, exhibition reviews, and artist interviews for The Brooklyn Rail and Phaidon Press, London, among other notable publications. He has written about emerging and established artists across generations and media including Torkwase Dawson, Shelia Hicks, Candida Höfer, Karen Kilimnik, Deana Lawson, Harold Mendez, Gladys Nilsson, and Edra Soto, among many others. An experienced educator, he was an Associate Professor at the College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY, and has also taught courses at UAlbany and Stony Brook University.
Shane holds a PhD in Art History and Criticism, an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Art and Philosophy, and an MA in Art History & Criticism from Stony Brook University. He also obtained a BFA from the College of St. Rose.

At the heart of the University Art Museum (UAM) is an ambitious exhibition program of approximately eight exhibitions each year encompassing all types of media. The museum has built its reputation on originating nearly all of its exhibitions including thematic exhibitions of contemporary art that feature national and international emerging and established artists.

Founded in 1967, the museum’s 9,000-square-foot facility was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and, with much of the uptown campus, is recognized as an icon of late 20th-century Modernist architecture. The UAM presents lectures, public conversations, tours, classes, and other programming frequently in collaboration with other programs, academic departments, and peer institutions. It is responsible for the care, conservation, and exhibition of the University at Albany Fine Art Collections in accordance with accepted standards in the museum field.