ELLENSBURG, WA.- The Clymer Museum of Art and Gallery has announced that TJ Norris of Portland, OR, has accepted the position of Curator and Director of Marketing and will be moving to Ellensburg. Norris will be responsible for the overall management of the gallery, curating all exhibits, coordinating educational programs, and implementing the Museum’s strategic marketing vision including educational and fundraising programs.
A former freelance curator and teacher at the Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Norris has guest curated over 25 exhibitions nationwide including shows at The White House (200th Anniversary Exhibition), Tufts University Aidekman Arts Center (MA), Roland Dille Center for the Arts at Minnesota State University (MN), SUNY/Binghamton Art Museum (NY), National Museum Project (New York City), and Miller Arts Center at Linfield College (OR).
Said Arlein Anderson, president of the Museum’s Board of Directors, “We are delighted to bring TJ’s caliber of talent to the arts community of Ellensburg and to the Clymer Museum. We’re looking forward to the energy TJ will bring to the museum, especially his ideas to strengthen our programs among students and families.”
In addition to his curatorial work (including juried exhibitions) and lecturing, Norris is an award-winning photographer and instructor. He holds a BFA in Photography from the
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, and studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax, Canada. His work has appeared at the Boston Center For The Arts, Bureau for Open Culture (Columbus, OH), Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (Nebraska City, NE), Luke & A Gallery (London), Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland), Tacoma Art Museum, and Center on Contemporary Art (Seattle). He has published extensively, including contributing editorial to ARTnews (New York), Visual Arts Source (Los Angeles), Leonardo Magazine/MIT Press (MA), IDIO Magazine (UK), Signal to Noise Magazine (Houston), OregonLive.com and Willamette Week (OR).
It was while travelling to photograph subjects for his new book, No Sign (2008-13), a solo monograph to be published in 2014, that Norris encountered the work of John Clymer at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth). “Having explored the Ansel Adams and Norman Rockwell galleries,” said Norris. “the idea of building the legacy of a namesake museum is a truly unique opportunity. John Clymer’s impact on western art has such resonance. It's a story I want to tell to attract new audiences.”
The Clymer Art Museum and Gallery was established in 1989 to honor Ellensburg native son John Ford Clymer. Located in Historic Downtown Ellensburg, the Museum has the largest public collection of Clymer's work, including oils, sketches, advertising art, illustrations and others—more than 50 pieces—and draws visitors and art patrons from all corners of the world.
