PORTLAND, ME.- The Portland Museum of Art announced that Jennifer DePrizio has been hired as the Peggy L. Osher Director of Learning and Interpretation. She will be responsible for the development and implementation of the museum’s interpretative experiences and educational materials for a diverse group of audiences. DePrizio will start on Monday, September 8, 2014.

“I’m excited to join the staff at the PMA at this time, when under Director Mark Bessire's inspiring direction, the museum builds on a solid foundation and imagines its future,” said Jennifer DePrizio. “This is a wonderful opportunity to assist in shaping a new direction for the institution and I’m eager to be a part of it.”

Jennifer DePrizio has been the Director of Visitor Learning at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston since 2006. She designed and facilitated innovative and effective training programs for the Gardner’s 50 docents and more than 150 volunteers. In anticipation of the January 2012 opening of the Gardner’s new wing, DePrizio took a leadership role in new initiatives including co-organizing and facilitating an institution-wide service training and working collaboratively with the Gardner’s contemporary curator and an Artist-in-Residence on a “living sculpture” called The Living Room Project by contemporary artist Lee Mingwei. Additionally, she led a visitor experience team that developed interpretative materials for both the historic collection and temporary exhibits and participated in audience research initiatives. DePrizio has taught museum education programs and art history courses at Tufts University’s Museum Studies Graduate Program, College of the Holy Cross, Anna Maria College, and the Worcester Art Museum. Her previous museum positions include education specialist for Public Teaching Programs at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, assistant curator of education at the Worcester Art Museum, and director of education at the Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier, Vermont. DePrizio holds a B.A. in Art History from the College of the Holy Cross and a M.A.T. in Museum Education from The George Washington University.

DePrizio will supervise the PMA’s Learning and Interpretation Department which includes: Stacy Rodenberger, assistant director of student and teacher learning; Julia Einstein, assistant director of family and studio learning; Vanessa Nesvig, coordinator of interpretation and programs; and Meghan Quigley, learning and interpretation assistant.