CINCINNATI .-The Cincinnati Art Museum announced today the appointment of the new Associate Curator of Contemporary Art to Jéssica Flores. Flores is scheduled to begin her new role in September.

Flores brings a strong range of local museum and gallery experience to the Cincinnati Art Museum. She currently serves as the Director’s Project Assistant at the Cincinnati Art Museum in which she has helped organize aspects of the architecture selection process for the museum’s long-term expansion, led internal efforts related to the Director’s appointment for the Venice Biennale and consulted on contemporary acquisitions.

Over the past year, Flores has worked closely with the Curatorial division to organize exhibitions featuring the work of noted Cincinnati-based artists including Anthony Luensman and Charley and Edie Harper. Flores also successfully served as the Art Museum’s temporary curator for contemporary art exhibitions including Arenas (2007), Minimal Realism: Charley and Edie Harper (2008) and Maps & Manifests: New Work by Mark Bradford (2008). She was also appointed on-site curator for the special exhibitions Transparent Reflections: Pousette-Dart Works on Paper (2007) and LeWitt x 2: Selections from The LeWitt Collection (2008).

Before entering the museum field, Flores spent two years at the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Art, Architecture and Planning Galleries as both a manager and assistant during which she supervised exhibitions in four of their satellite venues. She also assisted the university with their private art collection.

In 1998, she earned a bachelor's degree in painting and art history from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia and in 2003 she earned a master’s degree in art history from the School of Art, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. Flores also completed her graduate certificate in museum studies at the University of Cincinnati.

In her new role at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Flores plans to develop innovative exhibitions that help visitors better understand their world through contemporary art.

“I am looking forward to developing the Art Museum’s contemporary collection, executing more exhibitions, and engaging Cincinnati through a variety of progressive programs,” said Jéssica Flores.