WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Kevin Murphy  will take over as curator of American art at the Williams College Museum of Art.

 

Murphy is currently a curator and program manager at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. Previously, he  was associate curator of American art at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif.

 

"I am thrilled that Kevin Murphy is coming to WCMA," said Christina Olsen, director of the museum. "He brings a passion for American art as well as an openness to new forms of museum and curatorial practice. He comes at a time when the museum is reimagining itself and strengthening its relationship to the campus and community."

 

Murphy will be a key member of the team led by Olsen, who was appointed the museum's director in April 2012. He will work in collaboration with the curatorial staff to excite public and broad scholarly interest in American art and to create exhibitions and programs that provide new directions for WCMA's existing collection. He will also direct the museum's Prendergast Archive and Study Center, which contains the world’s largest body of work by the artists Charles and Maurice Prendergast.

 

"It's a thrilling moment to join WCMA," said Murphy. "I'm looking forward to working with the museum staff, faculty, and students to create dynamic programming for American art, with the museum's outstanding collection providing a great springboard."

 

Murphy has curated exhibitions on American art from the 19th century to the present, specializing in 19th and early 20th-century painting, and early 20th-century prints. His expertise also includes 19th-century U.S. economic history, which informed the exhibition, "Taxing Visions: Financial Episodes in Late Nineteenth-Century American Art," featured in The Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio.