OBERLIN, OH.- The Allen Memorial Art Museum has named Jill Greenwood as its Eric and Jane Nord Family Curator of Education, overseeing the museum’s public programs and community outreach, including K-12 education, leadership of a museum education course for Oberlin College students, social media, and oversight of tours at the Weltzheimer/Johnson House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
For the past two decades, Jill Greenwood has taught art history and museum studies at large state universities, liberal arts and community colleges, art institutes, and elementary schools. Since 2015, Greenwood has been a visiting assistant professor at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
“We are excited to have an educator and program manager of Jill’s caliber joining the AMAM staff,” said Andria Derstine, the AMAM’s John G. W. Cowles Director. “Her diversity of teaching experience, and her enthusiasm for making the museum collection accessible to all, are integral to fulfilling our mission of public outreach and education.” Greenwood’s appointment begins in July.
Greenwood holds doctoral and master’s degrees in art history from the University of Kansas, where her fields of study included medieval art, prints, and Asian art. She earned her undergraduate degree in art history from the University of Puget Sound. While at the University of Kansas, Greenwood held several positions at its Spencer Museum of Art, including docent and art preparator. In curatorial positions there from 1993 to 1998, she catalogued and maintained a collection of 12,000 works on paper; coordinated traveling exhibitions; recommended acquisitions; and presented print room talks. Greenwood also curated several exhibitions, from “The Medieval Image and Its Immortality” to “Aspects of Modern Life: French 19th Century Prints and Drawings.” She was an instructor and graduate teaching assistant from 1992 to 2001, during which time she was selected from among 1,350 teaching assistants to receive the Carlin Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Returning to her native Oregon, Greenwood joined the faculty of Willamette University as a visiting assistant professor, where she taught for ten years. She also worked as a curatorial consultant at the Hallie Form Museum of Art in Salem, where she advised on care and conservation issues for works on paper.
In 2012, Greenwood was hired by the Arts Council of Lake Oswego as its manager of public art and programs. This broad-based position gave Greenwood additional experience in many aspects of community outreach. In addition to curating the city’s art collection and public art program, she trained and coordinated docents, organized public events, and revised the art literacy curriculum for elementary school visitors, serving 6,800 students annually.
Since moving to Oberlin, Ohio, in 2014, Greenwood has cultivated relationships with the Oberlin Public Library, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts (FAVA), Oberlin Heritage Center, and the Eastwood-Prospect Parent Teacher Organization.
“I’m excited to join the dedicated and knowledgeable staff at the AMAM as the Eric and Jane Nord Family Curator of Education,” says Greenwood. “The Nord family’s commitment to education and culture in Oberlin and Northeast Ohio is inspirational and it is an honor to serve our community in a role named for them. I look forward to building on existing strengths in educational programs and public outreach at the AMAM.”
The Eric and Jane Nord Family Curatorship in Education, established in 2013, ensures that the AMAM can continue to provide programs for K-12 students and adults of all ages throughout the region.
