LINCOLN, NEB.- Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln announces the appointment of Magdalena Moskalewicz, Ph.D., to the position of chief curator and associate director for curatorial affairs. She joins a senior leadership team composed of the director and the newly hired associate director for learning, engagement, and public practice.

Moskalewicz is an art historian, professor, and an internationally recognized curator, as well as a widely published researcher of modern and contemporary art. Most recently, she was chief curator of FRONT International, a contemporary art triennial based in Cleveland. Before that she served as a full-time visiting professor and associate professor, adjunct, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University School of Art, and as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral C-MAP Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In her native Poland, Moskalewicz was a visiting curator at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw and served as curator of the Polish Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, among other appointments.

Moskalewicz was selected for the Sheldon position after a national search led by Suzanne Tan, senior search consultant at Museum Search & Reference, and assumed her new role on February 3.

“Magdalena brings to the museum deep expertise and a compelling, progressive vision,” said Susan Longhenry, director of Sheldon Museum of Art. “Her commitment to simultaneously honoring and reframing Sheldon's collection, and to interrogating the art history canon, will take the museum to the next level of scholarship, engagement, and impact.”

Moskalewicz believes in a curatorial practice that is inclusive and interdisciplinary; grounded in theoretical reflection and intellectually rigorous, but also strongly focused on the everyday. In her curatorial projects Magdalena has often collaborated with living artists to critically investigate histories, localities, and identities with the goal of reshaping dominant narratives. Over the years she has organized exhibitions, public performances, digital-born projects, and conferences as well as edited numerous publications, exploring a variety of curatorial formats that serve a wide range of audiences.

Moskalewicz has stated her interest in developing exhibitions and programs at Sheldon that “reflect the complexity of America today: globally connected and relevant,” aiming to “use art as a trigger that speaks to the moment,” and “delivering socially responsive curating that is stimulating and thought-provoking.”

“I feel incredibly honored to be entrusted with the stewardship of Sheldon’s spectacular collection of modern and contemporary art and productively thrilled about expanding it,” said Moskalewicz. “It is a great privilege to be working with Sheldon’s dedicated and knowledgeable staff inside this jewel box of a museum building and I am looking forward to my future collaborations with faculty, students, and the greater Nebraska art community.”

Moskalewicz was awarded both a doctorate and a master’s degree in art history from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. She is a recipient of numerous grants and awards, including from the A.W. Mellon Foundation, The Getty, Kosciuszko Foundation as well as Jean Goldman Book Prize 2017 (for her book “Halka/Haiti 18°48’05″N 72°23’01″W”) and Mary Zirin Prize 2020. Her publications include contributions to academic books and journals, exhibition catalogues as well as art criticism and op-eds in publications including “Art in America” and The Washington Post.