PITTSBURGH, PA.- Carnegie Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Dan Leers to the position of Curator of Photography. Leers assumes the place recently left open by the retirement of Linda Benedict-Jones, the museum’s first curator of photography.

Most recently a New York–based independent curator, Leers worked on the 2013 Venice Biennale, during which he served as an advisor on contemporary African Art. Prior to this, he was the Beaumont & Nancy Newhall Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He received his undergraduate degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and his master’s degree in modern art: curatorial studies from Columbia University, New York.

Leers joins CMOA on April 27, 2015. His responsibilities include shaping the Department of Photography’s collection through strategic acquisitions, organizing exhibitions, and serving as the museum’s internal agent for the next cycle of the innovative Hillman Photography Initiative, which launched in 2013, garnering international recognition for its groundbreaking structure and programming.

Lynn Zelevansky, The Henry J. Heinz II Director at CMOA said, “We are excited to welcome Dan to the museum and back to Pittsburgh. His global perspective, high-caliber institutional experience, and collaborative energy, make him an ideal fit for Carnegie Museum of Art as we look forward to a dynamic future in which photography plays a major role.”

“Pittsburgh is my hometown, and I’m thrilled to be landing at the museum that I grew up with,” said Leers. “CMOA has a strong collection and a real commitment to photography.”

He is especially focused on international contemporary photography, and was drawn by the museum’s history of engagement in that area.

“The museum has a long tradition of collecting and exhibiting international photography, through the Carnegie International and now the Hillman Photography Initiative,” Leers added. “I look forward to working with my colleagues at CMOA to continue that tradition and to share photography’s parallel histories from around the world.”