RENO, NEV.- The Nevada Museum of Art today announced the promotion of Apsara DiQuinzio to Andrea and John C. Deane Family Chief Curator, effective November 1. A respected voice in contemporary art, DiQuinzio will oversee the Museum’s curatorial strategy and exhibition program.

Her appointment comes as the Museum continues to expand its national profile through major exhibitions and institutional partnerships.

In her new role, DiQuinzio will oversee strategy, long-range exhibition planning, budgeting, and overall management of the Curatorial Department. She will also guide the care, preservation, and growth of the Museum’s permanent collection.

“Apsara’s leadership and curatorial excellence have made a profound impact on the Museum,” said David B. Walker, Nevada Museum of Art CEO. “Her ability to connect outstanding artists and deep ideas will continue to shape how our audiences experience the Museum in the years to come. I am thrilled that she has accepted this role.”

DiQuinzio joined the Nevada Museum of Art in 2021 as senior curator of contemporary art, following distinguished curatorial roles at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and the Whitney Museum of American Art. For more than two decades, she established herself as a leading voice in the contemporary art field, known for her thoughtful approach to critical issues and ideas that define our time.

At the Nevada Museum of Art, DiQuinzio has curated several major exhibitions, including Adaline Kent: The Click of Authenticity (2023)—the first retrospective and scholarly publication on the under- recognized mid-century artist—and the exhibitions We Were Lost in Our Country (2023) and Eternal Signs: Indigenous Australian Art from the Kaplan and Levi Collection (2024), both of which showcased 72 newly gifted works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. She also organized solo exhibitions with Lynn Hershman Leeson, Fallen Fruit, Cannupa Hanska Luger, and Elisheva Biernoff. Additionally, she has brought significant new works into the permanent collection by Diane Arbus, Sanaa Gateja, Liz Larner, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Hannah Levy, Rodney McMillan, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen, among many others.

Currently, DiQuinzio is organizing Into the Time Horizon, an ambitious international survey of environmental art that will fill the Museum’s 120,000-square-foot building when it opens in spring 2026. The exhibition will coincide with the Museum’s triennial Art + Environment Summit, taking place April 16–18, 2026.

“Collaborating with artists and working with others to develop ideas that expand how we understand our environment and place in the world is at the heart of my work,” added DiQuinzio. “As chief curator, I am honored to continue to shape a curatorial program that reflects the diversity of voices and perspectives that demonstrate the complexity of our contemporary landscape.”

In addition to her curatorial work, DiQuinzio has been a driving force behind the Museum’s sustainability initiatives. She founded and leads the Museum’s first Green Team, which integrates environmentally responsible practices into operations and policy. These efforts helped guide the Museum’s recent 50,000-square-foot expansion, shaping decisions that reduce carbon emissions and embed sustainability into the institution’s culture.

Before joining the Nevada Museum of Art, DiQuinzio served for nearly a decade as senior curator of modern and contemporary art and Phyllis C. Wattis MATRIX Curator at BAMPFA, where she organized more than forty exhibitions, including New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century (2021), The Feminist Art Coalition, Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter (2020), and Harvey Quaytman: Against the Static (2018). Earlier in her career, she held curatorial positions at SFMOMA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art where she co-organized the 2004 Whitney Biennial. She has contributed to numerous exhibition catalogs and international art journals, including Artforum, Mousse, The Exhibitionist, and Cura.

As part of this transition, longtime Museum thought leader Ann M. Wolfe will assume a new role as curator-at-large. Wolfe joined the Museum more than nineteen years ago and is widely regarded for her expansive historical exhibitions, scholarly publications, and curatorial leadership. In this new senior-level role, Wolfe will continue to focus on the art history of Nevada, the Great Basin, and the Greater West. She will also continue to nurture vital relationships with Great Basin Native American artists, leaders, and partner organizations.

Both curators will collaborate to advance the Museum’s mission through innovative exhibitions, scholarship, and partnerships.