DALLAS, TX.- Claire Moore, a noted museum educator from the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, has been appointed to lead the Dallas Museum of Art’s Education Department, known as the Center for Creative Connections, or the “C3,” announced Agustín Arteaga, The Eugene McDermott Director of the DMA. During her 10-year tenure in New York as a museum educator, Moore held several positions of increasing responsibility at the Met and the Brooklyn Museum, overseeing numerous large-scale educational programs and partnerships. At the DMA, Moore will be responsible for strengthening the Museum’s role as an international leader in education programming, anchored by a dynamic 5,000-square-foot dedicated C3 space that offers visitors interactive learning experiences with its collection and exhibitions. Moore will commence her role at the DMA on January 15, 2018.
“Claire is a thoughtful and creative leader in the field, with great vision and passion for educating the community through the arts, and we are excited to welcome her to Dallas and to the DMA,” said Arteaga. “As the DMA commences its new strategic plan with education as a core priority, Claire will spearhead the redefinition of C3 as the fulcrum for all education and engagement activities, and strengthen the DMA’s continued leadership and innovation in museum education, nationally and internationally. Her many successes at two acclaimed New York museums make her an extraordinary choice to assume leadership of the DMA’s education activities and to foster the development of innovative programs that will ignite creativity and desire for learning for visitors of all ages, cultures, genders, and education levels.”
While at the Met, Moore oversaw the vision, strategy, and implementation of programming engaging over 200,000 people a year, working with a team of 120 teaching volunteers, 25 contractual educators, and additional Met staff. Her achievements included the creation of nationally recognized and innovative partnership programs with the New York City Department of Education, the New York Public Library, and the U.S. Department of State, among others, which have successfully garnered $2 million in grants for Met educational programming and wide recognition across the museum field. Through close collaboration with museum curators, conservators, librarians, and technologists, Moore and her team developed and enriched program offerings, from gallery guides for on-site visits, to digital solutions that included Google+ Hangouts on Air and Tweet-ups to reach people in over 100 countries.
As the Allen and Kelli Questrom Center for Creative Connections Education Director, Moore will be responsible for expanding and redefining educational initiatives at the DMA, which encompass a range of community partnership projects and special events, visiting artist programs, and classes available across the Museum, in the community, and in the DMA’s 5,000-square-foot C3 facility, which includes an Art Studio, Tech Lab, and Theater. She will be responsible for spearheading the continued development of public programs, partnerships, and interpretive materials for adults, youth, and families that draw from the Museum’s mission and collection, as well as from partners in the community.
“It is an honor to return to my home state to support the educational initiatives of one of the country’s leading art museums and its innovative education center, the Center for Creative Connections, known as the C3, which has been a wonderful model in the museum field for fostering community, creativity, and innovation,” said Moore. “I look forward to strengthening and expanding its dynamic initiatives and drawing inspiration from the DMA’s incredible encyclopedic collection and exhibitions.”
“Our longtime support of education in both academic and cultural settings has shown us the efficacy of turning education into fun activity that evokes innate creativity, connects people of all ages in ways that build friendship and appreciation of diversity, and teaches skills like analytical thinking and self-expression that are applicable to any profession,” said Kelli Questrom. In 2006, when she and her husband, Allen, learned about former DMA director Bonnie Pitman’s new approach to education in the museum setting that could make learning as creative, connective, and entertaining as the art itself, they were immediately captivated. At that time, the Questroms provided a generous gift to endow the new position of Director of the new Center for Creative Connections, anticipating that post to become the Center for Creative Connections Education Director. Now, under Moore’s leadership, the DMA looks forward to the C3 being the innovative epicenter of all educational activities at the Museum. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the Dallas Museum of Art has about 24,000 pictures and other art objects that can teach and enliven people of all ages at every viewing, making the DMA the veritable ‘center’ for creative connection for all who enter our doors,” Questrom added.
Prior to her role at the Met, Moore served as a senior educator at the Brooklyn Museum, where she managed all aspects of K–12 educator programming, including numerous partnerships with schools and universities. A native of Texas, she began her career in education in Austin, Texas, as an elementary school administrator and an art instructor.
Moore is a graduate of the University of Texas, Austin with a BFA in Studio Art. She received an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College, New York, and an MA in Social Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, New York. She is a frequent contributor to museum education publications, such as the Journal of Museum Education, and appears regularly on panels at museum education conferences, including the American Association of Museums Annual Meeting and the National Art Education Association Convention.
