MIAMI, FLORIDA.-Miami Art Museum, South Florida's flagship museum featuring international art of the 20th and 21st centuries, has named Esther “Chipi” Morales as its new Curator of Education. Morales begins her appointment on January 1, 2005 and will oversee all phases of Miami Art Museum’s education program, with a special emphasis on adult education.

“Chipi comes to MAM well equipped to guide our educational mission and help us move towards achieving our goal of continuing to expand our community outreach efforts,” said Peter Boswell, MAM assistant director for programs/senior curator. “We’re confident that her leadership will help increase cultural awareness in South Florida.”

Prior to her appointment at MAM, Morales was associate museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she worked for ten years. Morales oversaw the Met’s internship program, which provides training opportunities and instruction for 250 interns annually. She also supervised the museum’s 70 weekend volunteer docents, conducted teacher workshops, lectured extensively, participated in community outreach programs, and served on the museum’s Multicultural Committee.

Before joining the Met, Morales spent eight years as a lecturer in the education department of The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s medieval branch.

She has been a member of The Americas Society, consulted for InterAmericas Society, promoting art and literature of the Americas, and served on the Education Advisory Committee for El Museo del Barrio.

Morales graduated from Wells College with a B.A. in French Literature and received an M.A. in art history from Columbia University. She has undertaken additional graduate work on Modernism in Latin American Art and the art and architecture of New Spain at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and French and has a reading knowledge of Italian and German.

Accredited by the American Association of Art Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners.