BOSTON, MASS.- Dr. Christina Nielsen, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection and Exhibition Program, has been selected as one of 12 Curatorial Fellows, a prestigious honor from The Center for Curatorial Leadership in New York City.

Nielsen will take part in the intensive fellowship program from January through May, joining a group of esteemed curators from across North America for training modules, leadership exercises, and organizational initiatives. The goal is to help fellows take on greater leadership roles within their museums and communities. She was selected by a committee of museum directors and Center for Curatorial Leadership alumni for the tenth class of annual fellows.

“I am honored to be part of such an amazing cohort of curators from the US and abroad this year,” said Nielsen, “and I am especially pleased that my friend and colleague, Jen Mergel, Beal Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, will also be participating in the program.”

At the Gardner, Nielsen leads initiatives—including exhibitions, public programs, and publications— that give different audiences broader access to the Museum’s extraordinary collections of fine art, rare books, and archival items. Most recently, she curated the critically acclaimed exhibition, Off The Wall: Gardner and her Masterpieces, which showcased twenty-five of the Gardner’s most renowned paintings in a new light and told the stories behind their acquisition.

Before joining the Gardner, Nielsen was at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she curated several major exhibitions, and served a two-year term as the President of the Art Institute’s Curatorial Forum.

She received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago, and has published on ancient and medieval art, and on the history of collecting medieval art in 19th-20th century America.

In addition to serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, Christina has held research appointments and fellowships at the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The British Museum. She has taught art history courses at the University of Chicago, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, she has served on the board of the International Center for Medieval Art, and has been on several committees for the Association of Art Museum Curators.