ALBANY — An art historian and nonprofit chief with museum and academic artwork experience has been named the new government director of the Albany Institute of Historical past & Artwork.
Buffalo indigenous Kristen Oehlrich, who holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels in artwork record as properly as an MBA and was interim assistant director at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., was the unanimous choice to the guide the Albany Institute, in accordance to AIHA board Chair F. Michael Tucker. A 13-member lookup committee commenced do the job previous 12 months to discover a successor to Tammis Groft, who has been at the Albany Institute since 1976 and announced in July that she would retire after a replacement was employed. Oehlrich formally commences June 1, the museum reported in its announcement.
“The institute was fascinated in a leader who experienced both equally entrepreneurial and academic knowledge mixed with a deep appreciation for art, background and the culture of the upper Hudson Valley,” John G. Walsh III, trustee and chair of the search committee, stated in a assertion. “We also desired a chief with a verified record of engaging numerous audiences and the capability to embrace and progress the important perform of our mission,” Walsh reported.
“The institute’s mission to link diverse audiences to the artwork and tradition of our region dovetails with my possess determination to build programming and exhibitions that educate, encourage and entertain,” Oehlrich explained in a assertion. “I look forward to setting up on the reliable basis formulated by Tammis Groft and extending the institute’s legacy though strengthening connections in just the Institute and with the public,” she said.
Oehlrich comes to the Albany Institute from Triumph of Flora, a consulting agency she launched in 2017 that advises consumers on the buy and sale of art. She will near the business enterprise to focus exclusively on the Albany Institute, Tucker mentioned. Prior to opening Triumph of Flora, Oehlrich was interim assistant director in the Study and Educational System at the Clark and, in advance of that, a submit-doctoral educating and investigate fellow in the graduate art heritage system at Williams University in Williamstown. Oehlrich holds a Ph.D. in the historical past of artwork and architecture and an govt MBA, both from Brown University, a master’s of art heritage and criticism from Stony Brook University and a bachelor of arts in art history from the SUNY Fredonia, according to details presented by the Albany Institute.
Groft commenced as an intern at the Albany Institute in 1976, was employed as an assistant curator in 1978, chief curator 9 decades later on, deputy director in 2000, interim director in January 2013 and govt director in June 2013. Through her career, she labored in diverse capacities on just about 100 exhibitions, wrote or contributed to several publications and assisted the museum secure far more than 30 grants from federal, point out, regional and regional governments, foundations and other entities.