People - Michael E. Shapiro - Elsa Longhauser - Annette Schindler - Jan Howard - Peter H. Gordon - Alan M. Fern - Dean Sobel - Karl Emil Willers - Julien Robson - William R. Thompson - Brief Article

Art in America, May, 2000 by Stephanie Cash, David Ebony

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has appointed Michael E. Shapiro, deputy director and chief curator at the museum since 1995, its new director. He replaces Ned Rifkin, who is now director of the Menil Collection in Houston. Shapiro served a brief tenure as director of the L.A. County Museum in 1993. He was chief curator at the St. Louis Art Museum from 1987 to '92.

The Ludwig Museum in Cologne has announced that Jochen Poetter, the museum's director since 1997, is stepping down. Longtime Ludwig curator Evelyn Weiss will serve as acting director until Poetter's successor is named.

Elsa Longhauser, director since 1983 of the Galleries at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, was recently appointed director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art, effective June 1. She organized the recent Valie Export exhibition [see A.i.A., Apr. '00], which appeared at Moore's Goldie Paley Gallery and next year will travel to the Santa Monica Museum and the Otis College of Art and Design in L.A.

Annette Schindler, director of the Swiss Institute in New York since 1997, has resigned to become the founding curator and director of an institution for new media in Basel.

Brian J. Ferriso, assistant director at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, has been named director of curatorial affairs at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Jan Howard has been appointed curator of prints, drawings and photographs at the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design. She was with the Baltimore Museum of Art for 14 years, most recently as curator of prints, drawings and photographs.

Independent curator Berta M. Sichel is the new chief curator of film and media arts at the Reina Sofia in Madrid.

Peter H. Gordon is the new executive director of the Evanston [Ill.] Art Center. He most recently served as communications coordinator at the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. From 1992 to '97, he was chief curator of the San Jose Museum of Art.

Alan M. Fern, director since 1982 of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has announced his retirement, effective in June. He plans to pursue writing and research projects at the Smithsonian.

Dean Sobel, former chief curator and curator of contemporary art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, is the new director of the Aspen Art Museum.

Karl Emil Willers is the new chief curator at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was recently associate curator and administrative coordinator at the Whitney Museum, where he worked on the second part of "The American Century."

Julien Robson was recently named the first curator of contemporary art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky. The Scottish-born Robson was assistant director of the Galerie H.S. Steinek in Vienna for the past nine years.

William R. Thompson is the new curator of the El Paso Museum of Art. He most recently worked as a freelance researcher for "Outbound: Passages from the '90s" at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.