TAMPA, FLA.- The Tampa Museum of Art has announced the resignation of Seth D. Pevnick, Chief Curator and Richard E. Perry Curator of Greek and Roman Art, where he has served since 2009. Pevnick will join the Cleveland Museum of art (CMA) as Curator of Greek and Roman Art in March 2019.

“As we reflect on Seth’s ten-year career with the Museum, we thank him for his great contributions to the field, the profession, and to the Tampa Museum of Art as the Richard E. Perry Curator of Greek and Roman Art, as Chief Curator, and from July of 2014 through April of 2015 as Interim Director.

During the years working with Seth, I have been particularly impressed with his scholarly pursuits and with his interest and ability to reflect on Ancient art in a modern context, ensuring our community understands the continued relevance of classical art in our contemporary lives. He frequently quoted Ancient prose and text during his presentations on contemporary art, captivating our visitors with new reflections to contemplate. To that end, he developed with his team Conversations with the Collection, a program dedicated to an exhibition developed by our curatorial team working in tandem with a contemporary artist. Patricia Cronin, Aphrodite and the Lure of Antiquity was the first of these biennial programs and was lauded in the October 25, 2018 New York Times article, To Draw Viewers, Museums Show That What’s Old Is New Again. We will miss Seth at the Museum, but know his contributions will not be diminished or eclipsed,” said TMA Executive Director Michael Tomor.

“This is a bittersweet moment for me, as I look ahead with great excitement to the next chapter of my career in Cleveland, but also reflect on the end of nearly a decade in Tampa. I have enjoyed my tenure at the Tampa Museum of Art, and I am proud of my contributions towards a number of significant exhibitions, acquisitions, and other developments here. I have been particularly pleased to help build an increasingly large community of people engaged with the arts of both classical antiquity and the present day. And so, while I am very excited to join the Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the finest comprehensive art museums in the United States, I am also sad to leave so many friends and supporters here in Tampa, where my family and I have made wonderful memories. Tampa and the Tampa Museum of Art will always be very special places for us, and we will watch with great interest to see how the institution and the city grow in the coming years. I thank Michael Tomor as well as the late Dr. Richard E. and Mrs. Mary B. Perry, and all of the staff, trustees, and supporters – past and present – who have made the Tampa Museum of Art such a gratifying place to work,” said Pevnick.

During his tenure at TMA, Pevnick has curated numerous exhibitions including the major traveling exhibition Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult, and Daily Life (2014–15); Echoes of Antiquity: Revisiting and Reimagining the Ancient World (2015); Animals in Ancient Art (2016); and Patricia Cronin, Aphrodite, and the Lure of Antiquity: Conversations with the Collection (2018). From July 2014 to April 2015, he served as Acting Director at the Tampa Museum of Art.

An active scholar and prolific writer, Pevnick has published widely. Several recent publications include “The Tampa Poseidon = The Shugborough Neptune,” in Collecting and Collectors: From Antiquity to Modernity (Selected Papers on Ancient Art and Architecture 4), 2018; “Riders and Victors: Competing on Horseback in Archaic and Classical Greek Art,” in The Horse in Ancient Greek Art, 2017; Red-figure Neck-amphorae with Twisted Handles in The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C., 2017; and “Good Dog, Bad Dog: A Cup by the Triptolemos Painter and Aspects of Canine Behavior on Athenian Vases,” in Athenian Potters and Painters, vol. III, 2014.

Pevnick has extensive archaeological fieldwork experience, having served as a consultant on digs in Pieria and Boeotia, Greece; as a trench supervisor and ceramic specialist for four summers at Lofkënd Tumulus, Albania; and as a fieldworker for three summers for the Agora Excavations in Athens, Greece.

Prior to his employment at Tampa, from 2008–9 Pevnick was a Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Villa, where he co-curated The Chimaera of Arezzo, a collaborative exhibition with the Republic of Italy. Pevnick holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in Classical Archaeology from Dartmouth College. The recipient of numerous academic honors, including the John Williams White Fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (2006–7) and the Graduate Student Poster Award from the Archaeological Institute of America (2009), Pevnick most recently was awarded a Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome for 2019. He and his family will move to Cleveland this winter.