Margo Crutchfield, who most recently served as senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, has been named curator at large for the Center of the Arts at Virginia Tech.

In her new position, Crutchfield will conceptualize, develop, and present a dynamic program of exhibitions and events to be featured in the center’s galleries and public spaces when it opens in the fall of 2013. In addition to a focus on national and international artists, the program will feature collaborative, multidisciplinary initiatives; Virginia artists; projects involving Virginia Tech faculty and students; and community-based arts efforts.

“We’re very fortunate to have Margo join our staff,” said Ruth Waalkes, executive director of the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. “Her extensive knowledge and experience in conceptualizing and implementing exhibitions, collections, performance events, educational programs, and residencies that are relevant and engaging to a wide variety of audiences are key additions for us as we move closer to our opening date.”

Throughout her career, Crutchfield has worked with emerging, mid-career, and established artists, and has organized exhibitions in a wide range of media, including  painting, photography, sculpture, installations, video, and digital art.

Crutchfield spent nine years at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, where her work enhanced not only the contemporary art landscape in Cleveland, Ohio, but the museum’s national reputation and profile. Among the many exhibitions she curated for the museum were “Marilyn Minter: Orange Crush,” “Assume Astro Vivid Focus,” “From Then to Now: Masterworks of Contemporary African American Art,” “Hugging and Wrestling, Israeli Photography and Video,” and the media exhibition “All Digital.”

Prior to her position in Cleveland, Crutchfield served as an associate curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., where, as a member of the 20th-Century Art curatorial team, she organized exhibitions in the contemporary art galleries and worked with the Sydney and Frances Lewis collection, one of the most extensive post-war art collections in the country.  Among the numerous exhibitions she curated at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts were “Magdalena Abakanowicz,” “Beverly Semmes,” “Philip Guston: Paintings of the 70s,” and “Martin Puryear’s mid-career retrospective and national tour,” in addition to co-curating the “Un/Common Ground” exhibitions featuring Virginia artists. 

Crutchfield was also responsible for a number of key acquisitions, such as the museum’s Gerhard Richter painting and important works by Alison Saar and Cindy Sherman. Working with Martin Friedman, director of the Walker Art Center, Crutchfield played an instrumental role in reinstalling the museum’s expansive post-war art galleries.  Another highlight of Crutchfield’s tenure at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was the ”Fast/Forward” series of contemporary performance events, which brought luminaries in the field such as Robert Wilson and vanguard artists to Virginia for the first time. Crutchfield’s curatorial career began at Aspen Art Museum, where she served as assistant curator and interim director.

Crutchfield is the author of 27 exhibition catalogues and brochures. Active in the national arts community, she has served as a committee member for the Smithsonian Amelia Art Prize, a panelist for “CONVERGE Chicago: Contemporary Curators Forum,” and a panelist and site evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a French language certification from the University of Lyon, France. She attended the International School of Geneva, Switzerland.

 

 

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