SANTA FE, NM.- The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum announces its new Director of Curatorial Affairs, Cody Hartley, who will take the position effective April 29, 2013. Hartley joins the O’Keeffe Museum from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he held the positions of Assistant Curator of Paintings, Art of the Americas, and later, the position of Director of Gifts of Art. The Museum also announces that Eumie Imm Stroukoff, currently the Librarian and Assistant Director of the Research Center, will become the Director of the Research Center.

Hartley’s academic and professional background is rooted in the art of the Southwest, including his Ph.D. dissertation on the emergence of museums in Santa Fe, entitled “Art in an Arid Climate: The Museum of New Mexico and the Cultivation of the Arts in Santa Fe,” and his work on exhibits for the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Boston Museum including O’Keeffe materials. Hartley received his Ph.D. in Art History in 2005 from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

As a curator at the MFA, he worked on the installation of their new Art of the Americas wing, opened in 2010. As Director, Gifts of Art, he facilitated the acquisition of major collections, including the Robert Owen Lehman Collection of West African art, the Lane Collection of photography and modernist art, the Axelrod Collection of art by African American artists, and the Daphne Farago collection of contemporary decorative art.

“Cody brings a unique combination of skills and experiences to the O’Keeffe Museum,” said Rob Kret, director of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. “The combination of his past work and current position at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as Director of Gifts of Art, brings an exceptional set of talents in terms of curatorial experience and donor relations that will be extremely beneficial to the Museum.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the O’Keeffe Museum at such an exciting moment,” said Hartley. “Highly regarded and internationally recognized, the Museum is poised to enter a new era of innovative and insightful exhibitions that sustain and interpret the legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and explore the richness of American Modernism. I look forward to strengthening the one-of-a-kind collections of the Museum and developing strong collaborative partnerships within the community and across the nation.”

“Cody has a thorough understanding of the challenges facing museums in the 21st century and believes in a visitor-centered approach to museums,” said Kret. “He will make a significant contribution to shaping our exhibition schedule and working as part of a team to fulfill our mission dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe, her life, American Modernism, and public engagement.”

In addition, the Museum has promoted Eumie Imm-Stroukoff, currently the Librarian and Assistant Director of the Research Center, to the position of the Director of the Research Center.

“The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center has established a national presence over the past decade and I am delighted by the opportunities and challenges of this new position,” said Stroukoff. “I look forward to continued collaborations with the director, museum staff, and the board of trustees and committees as well as welcoming new collaborations with the Santa Fe and New Mexico communities and my colleagues on the national level. My goals include working on initiatives with these groups to move the Research Center forward into the next decade in an open and accessible environment and to strengthen the relationship between the Research Center and the Museum.”

As Hartley enters the Santa Fe community and begins work, the Museum prepares for it’s latest exhibition “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land” to open May 17, 2013.