Veteran Curator Suzanne Weaver Retires

After five years at the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) and 30 years in the contemporary art world, Suzanne Weaver, the Chief Curator at SAMA, is retiring. Weaver’s tenure at SAMA will end on April 16. Weaver was appointed Brown Foundation Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at SAMA in 2016, after her stint at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and her time at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, where she was interim director.

Significantly, for Texas, Weaver was the Nancy and Tim Hanley Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art for 13 years, from 1995–2008. 

States Weaver: “It has been an honor and privilege to be a museum curator at four extraordinary institutions. I am deeply grateful for the generous support of and respectful collaborations with artists, gallerists, trustees and patrons, and colleagues who have enriched my life beyond words. Many have become close and forever friends. But, after three decades in the art world, it is time for a new chapter. I am looking forward to working on my book about the DNA of Waco, Texas, writing on art and artists, and pursuing my own photography. Maybe, I will finally have that garden I’ve always dreamt about.”

Among her multiple exhibitions curated for SAMA are Capturing the Moment: Photographs from the Marie Brenner and Ernst Pomerantz Collection, and the recent Texas Women: A New History of Abstraction. Weaver has several acquisitions for SAMA to her credit, including works by women artists and artists of color. Kevin Beasley, Jose Dávila, Ana Fernandez, Christina Fernandez, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Sonia Gomes, Kirk Hayes, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Terrell James, Rodney McMillian, Marcelyn McNeil, Pedro Reyes, Analia Saban, Martine Syms, and Liz Trosper are now all part of the SAMA collection under Weaver’s tenure.

The overall influence of Weaver’s time at the DMA cannot be overstated; she shepherded in a new era of international contemporary art to the state of Texas.

States Dr. John R. Lane, The Eugene McDermott Director Emeritus, Dallas Museum of Art: “At the Dallas Museum of Art, Suzanne Weaver pushed the contemporary art program featuring younger talents to new levels of ambition and experimentation, frequently affording her invited artists either their first exhibition in a museum or a premier of their most recent work. Suzanne possesses not only an acute, uncanny power in seeking out challenging and proficient work — often previously underrecognized — but also a deep love of creative people that rings true and which, coupled with her skill in helping artists to realize their visions, has earned her the warm affection and wide respect of the art world.”

Says Emily Sano, SAMA’s Co-Interim Director and Senior Advisor for Asian Art: “Suzanne’s tenure at SAMA and wider career arc have been characterized by an incredible commitment to artists, to expanding understanding of and experiences with their work and to bringing greater attention to those artists who have been underrepresented or underrecognized in both regional and national conversation. She has been instrumental in developing SAMA’s modern and contemporary art collections and equally to enhancing our institution-wide commitment to diversity and equity. Her vision for community engagement has also expanded SAMA’s connections to local artists and the broader public. We are grateful to Suzanne for her many contributions to SAMA and to the field at large.”