AKRON, OH.- The Akron Art Museum announced the appointment of Ellen Rudolph to the position of Chief Curator. Rudolph was identified as a leading candidate from a shortlist of several nationally prominent curators and art professionals for her leadership, curatorial experience, and her understanding of the intersection of arts and culture in Northeast Ohio with national and global perspectives in the art world.

Akron Art Museum Executive Director and CEO Mark Masuoka said, “We are excited to have Ellen Rudolph returning to the Akron Art Museum as our new Chief Curator. Ellen’s selection builds upon the continued success of the museum’s curatorial department and her experience and passion for contemporary art is exactly what we need to continue to stay on the leading edge of contemporary culture as a forward thinking 21st century art museum.”

Rudolph rejoins the Akron Art Museum after a successful tenure as the Executive Director of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, where she doubled the museum’s attendance in the space of three years. Through her leadership, the museum also raised its profile through programs, community partnerships, marketing, and exhibitions, including Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann (2016), Organized by the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in collaboration with the Mossad and Beit Hatfutsot—the Museum of the Jewish People, and Violins of Hope, organized by the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (2015-16).

“I am thrilled to return to the Akron Art Museum and look forward to pursuing an ambitious and innovative exhibition program,” Rudolph said. “The museum offers amazing opportunities to engage the community with art, and I am excited to work again with the fantastic collection and the museum’s great staff while raising the museum’s regional and national profile.”

The Akron Art Museum has already benefited from Rudolph’s considerable experience, scholarship and talent. She served as curator of exhibitions, interim chief curator and senior curator, respectively, from 2008 through 2013. Through her efforts the museum organized numerous prescient exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, including Pattern ID, which featured work by Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, James Gobel and many others (2010), Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui (2012), and Diana Al-Hadid: Nolli’s Orders (2013-14). She also researched and initiated the museum’s acquisition of major works by Mickalene Thomas, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Kiki Smith, James Gobel and Matthew Kolodziej.

Rudolph holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and currently lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Her official start date at the Akron Art Museum is August 28, 2017.