INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- Dr. Charles L. Venable, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, announced today that Dr. Tricia Y. Paik has been named the Museum’s new curator of contemporary art. In her role, Paik will be responsible for the preservation, interpretation and continued growth of the IMA’s contemporary art collection as well as the strategic presentation of contemporary art throughout the IMA’s 152-acre campus, including the IMA’s permanent galleries, special exhibition spaces and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. Setting the long-term vision for the contemporary art program, Paik will take the lead in expanding and sustaining a dialogue with the Museum’s communities, capitalizing on the capacity of contemporary art to engage audiences in innovative ways.

“I am thrilled to welcome Tricia Paik as the newest member of the IMA’s curatorial team,” Venable said. “I’m confident that her proven deep art historical knowledge and her dedication to contemporary artists, academic scholarship and community engagement will build upon the Museum’s already robust contemporary art program and help move us forward in new and exciting ways. Her perspective and experience will be invaluable to the IMA during this time of great innovation and energy.”

Paik currently serves as the associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, and also held positions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the Saint Louis Art Museum, Paik oversees the museum’s exceptional collection of painting, sculpture, mixed media and new media from 1945 to present. She curates two ongoing contemporary exhibition programs, Currents and New Media Series, which have featured artists such as Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock, Chelsea Knight, Ian Monroe, Marco Brambilla, William E. Jones, James Nares, Laleh Khorramian, Hubbard/Birchler, Guido van der Werve, Martha Colburn, Pae White and Laurent Grasso. In 2013, Paik co-curated the inaugural installation of the contemporary collection galleries in the Saint Louis Art Museum’s new East Building designed by Sir David Chipperfield. She also curated “Postwar German Art from the Collection,” the inaugural installation featured in the museum’s new main exhibition galleries. Paik co-curated the recent commission by Andy Goldsworthy, Stone Sea, and the first phase of the Museum's new outdoor sculpture garden. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she received her MA and PhD from New York University where her dissertation focused on the work of American master Ellsworth Kelly.

“In recent years, the IMA has established an extraordinary contemporary art program, and I’m excited to build upon that spirit of innovation and imagination,” Paik stated. “With its outstanding collection, campus, resources and community, the IMA presents boundless opportunities to connect the relevance of art and contemporary artistic practices to everyday life. I look forward to working with Charles Venable, Preston Bautista and the IMA’s talented staff.”

Paik’s appointment comes on the heels of the announcement of the IMA’s new Curator of Audience Experiences and Performance, Scott Stulen, earlier this month. These two positions will work closely to create programs that showcase contemporary art and artists in order to engage local audiences while expanding the museum’s regional, national and international presence.