The San Jose Museum of Art has appointed Mónica Ramírez-Montagut as its senior curator.
Ramírez-Montagut is currently curator at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. There, she was a primary contributor to the institution’s innovative exhibition program and organized (and co-organized) multi-disciplinary, community-focused exhibitions that featured an international array of artists, such as Bike Rides, Pretty Tough: Contemporary Storytelling, Kathryn Spence: Dirty and Clean, Fritz Haeg: Something for Everyone, the popular and critically acclaimed 2010 exhibition, KAWS, and 2011’s KAWS: Companion (Passing Through), now on view at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. As senior curator, Ramírez-Montagut will head SJMA’s curatorial department, which is notable for its innovative approaches and community engagement. Ramírez-Montagut will join the staff at SJMA in June.
“I am thrilled to welcome Mónica to the San Jose Museum of Art and look forward to the imprint she will have on the Museum,” said Susan Krane, Oshman Executive Director. “Mónica’s broad interests and her enthusiasm for working collaboratively mirror SJMA’s current priorities—as does the international spectrum of her projects. She is a curator who is attuned to audiences and to community, as well as to serious scholarship. Her background in art, architecture, and design will newly enable SJMA to launch programs in areas we’ve targeted for strategic growth, areas that are particularly vital to Silicon Valley. She believes in the marriage of public events and exhibitions. With her passion for new ideas, her commitment to supporting regional artists, and her global perspective (with a special focus on Latin American art), Monica will be a wonderful and surprising voice at SJMA and in the greater Bay Area arts community.”
“I am honored to be joining such a talented and enthusiastic team of professionals,” said Ramírez-Montagut. “The San Jose Museum of Art’s mission to reflect cultural diversity and foster the innovative spirit of the region will be a daily inspiration and a task I will take to heart. I look forward to contributing to SJMA and bringing stimulating programs to the dynamic and vibrant community of the Bay Area, and I am excited to explore and become an active member of Silicon Valley and the West Coast.”
Ramírez-Montagut received her bachelor of architecture degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and her master of architecture and Ph.D. from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSAB, in Barcelona. Prior to joining the staff of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in 2008, she was assistant curator of architecture and design at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. At the Guggenheim, Ramírez-Montagut was the coordinating curator for the exhibitions Zaha Hadid and Restoring a Masterpiece: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum and contributed an essay and curatorial support for Cai Guo-Qiang. She has served as the curator of collections and public programs at the Price Tower Arts Center (PTAC), Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and has also worked at the Queens Theatre in the Park, New York, and the Galerìa Carles Taché, Barcelona. In 2003-2004, she was program coordinator for the Mexico Now Festival in New York, a bilingual, city-wide festival that encompassed 35 venues and 150 events.
For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org