TULSA, OKLA.- Philbrook Museum of Art welcomes Sienna Brown, PhD, as the new Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Most recently she served as the Wallis Annenberg Curatorial Fellow at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art where she worked on exhibitions of Ed Moses, John McLaughlin, a survey of prints and paintings by Oklahoma’s own Ed Ruscha, and drawings by LA artists from the 1960s and 1970s. A native of New Hampshire, Brown received her undergraduate degree from The University of Chicago and her PhD in Art History from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. Her dissertation resulted in a catalogue raisonné of lithographs of Robert Rauschenberg. “Sienna brings great knowledge of contemporary practices and printmaking to Philbrook,” remarked Philbrook Chief Curator, Catherine Whitney. “We look forward to her expanding the reach and depth of Philbrook’s growing contemporary presence.”

Brown’s tenure with Philbrook begins as coordinating curator for In Living Color: Andy Warhol and Contemporary Printmaking from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, which opens in Tulsa on October 18, 2015. Likewise Brown will coordinate the final exhibition in Philbrook’s six-year, three-exhibition relationship with Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany) scheduled to open February 2016. In addition, Brown will develop original exhibitions and installations from the Philbrook permanent collection of modern and contemporary art. “Part of what attracted me to Philbrook is its dynamism and community involvement,” commented Brown. “I want to make contemporary art accessible to everyone through special exhibitions, new acquisitions, and collection installations.”

Brown joins a curatorial team whose ambitious exhibitions, programs, and scholarly contributions elevate this 77-year-old institution both nationally and internationally. In the last seven years, over 42% of exhibitions on view at Philbrook were curated in-house, up from 23% during the previous seven year period (2000-2007). During the same period Philbrook has grown its permanent collection by 23.5% or 2754 works of art. Previously the Museum took 25 years to collect the same number. Partnerships with larger institutions and contributions to scholarly publications have increased in recent years as well. Within their 2015-2017 exhibition series, Philbrook partners with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Denver Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, among others.

Sarah Lees, PhD joined the Museum as the Ruth G. Hardman Curator of European Art in 2014 when she acted as coordinating curator of the Philbrook-originated exhibition, Monet and the Seine: Impressions of a River, which drew a recent record in attendance. Lees curated Whistler and the British Etching Revival earlier this year as well as Modern Times: British Prints from the 1920s and ‘30s, which remains on view through October. Later this year, visitors will enjoy an original exhibition curated by Lees of mid-nineteenth century French paintings and prints, Barbizon and Beyond. A native of Boston, Mass., Lees received her BA in Art History from Harvard University and her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She most recently served as the Associate Curator of European Art at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass. While there, she edited and contributed to the first systematic catalogue of the Clark’s nineteenth century European paintings, which earned the 2012 Wittenborn Award for outstanding publication in the visual arts and architecture. She also served as curator of Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris, presented in Williamstown and Ferrara, Italy, and contributed to Picasso Looks at Degas, which appeared at the Clark and the Museum Picasso in Barcelona, Spain, among other projects. “Philbrook offers me the opportunity to engage with a wide range of European art from Italian Renaissance masterpieces to eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings and prints to early modern work,” remarked Lees. One recent promised gift to Philbrook inspired an upcoming exhibition, in which Lees will explore the context of the painting’s creation during the French Revolutionary period. “I look forward to sharing original scholarly work based on the outstanding Philbrook permanent collection,” reflected Lees.

Catherine Whitney, Philbrook’s Chief Curator and Curator of American Art, leads this distinguished team while specializing in American paintings, modernism, and Southwestern art from 1890-1940. A native of Maine, she relocated to Tulsa from Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2010. Whitney earned a B.A. in Art History and Studio Art from Bowdoin College, and a M.A. in Art History from the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the curatorial team at Philbrook, she held various positions at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC and the Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe and currently serves as president of the Southwest Art History Conference Board in Taos, New Mexico. At Philbrook, Whitney has originated numerous exhibitions including: From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection (2015, traveled to Phoenix Art Museum and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum); Hard Times Oklahoma 1929-1940: The Documentary Photographs of Russell Lee (2014); Models & Muses: Max Weber and the Figure (2012-13, catalogue); Black on Black-&-White: The Southwest of Laura Gilpin and Maria Martinez (co-curated in 2012, traveled); and A Legacy of Art: Paintings by N.C, Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth from the Cowan Collection (2010). “The Philbrook’s permanent collection, energetic staff, and expanding stature enable me to match my areas of interest with exciting, in-depth exhibitions and important national partnerships,” remarked Whitney. Opening this month at Philbrook Downtown, Doel Reed: Interludes showcases over 25 paintings and aquatints by the Taos and Oklahoma artist. A Place in the Sun: The Southwest Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin Hennings opens at Philbrook next May. Originated by the Denver Museum of Art, Whitney is contributing to this traveling exhibition and scholarly catalog.

Christina E. Burke, Curator of Native American and Non-Western Art, joined Philbrook in 2006, since which time she has curated or coordinated over a dozen exhibitions and contributed to several scholarly publications. A cultural anthropologist with degrees from the university of Rochester (N.Y.) and Indiana University, Burke has worked on a variety of collaborative endeavors with American Indian people including collections research and exhibitions as well as the development of a Native language curriculum materials. Her original exhibitions continue to leverage the strengths in the Philbrook permanent collection with her exploration of native traditions and their contemporary expressions. In Identity and Inspiration: 20th Century Native American Art, a semi-permanent installation at Philbrook Downtown, Burke focuses on the individual artists and their various sources of inspiration rather than geo-cultural affiliations or media types. In 2014 Burke curated the first retrospective exhibition and authored the accompanying catalog on the Philbrook Indian Annual. This art market hosted by the Museum from 1946 to 1979 arguably shifted the definitions of Native American art. “With Philbrook’s growing collection of Native American art and continued support from Museum leadership and the Tulsa community, there are infinite opportunities for future exhibitions and programs celebrating the extent of Native creativity,” remarked Burke.