The Board of Trustees of The Chinati Foundation has appointed Caitlin Murray as the organization’s new Executive Director.
Caitlin Murray. Photo: Alex Marks.
Ms. Murray holds an MS in Information Studies and an MA in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked as the Director of Archives and Programs at the Judd Foundation since 2008. In this capacity, she served as co-editor of the publications Donald Judd Writings (2016) and Donald Judd Interviews (2019). She also oversaw a multi-year National Endowment for the Humanities-funded project, due to be completed this fall, which aims to organize the Donald Judd Papers and make them more accessible to the public. Ms. Murray has additionally worked with the Judd Foundation’s artistic director, Flavin Judd, to organize exhibitions at 101 Spring Street featuring Alvar Aalto, John Chamberlain, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Donald Judd, Yayoi Kusama, Richard Long, David Novros, James Rosenquist, Lauretta Vinciarelli, and Meg Webster.
Outside of her work with the Judd Foundation, Ms. Murray served as an advisory member of Yale Union, a center for contemporary art in Portland, Oregon and is the co-owner of the Marfa Book Company. The book store, newly located at 300 South Kelly in Marfa, also maintains a gallery space, for which Ms. Murray organizes exhibitions. Shows she has curated for the bookstore’s gallery have included works by Rosa Barba, Jean Baptiste-Bernadet, James Benning, Luis Camnitzer, Robert Grenier, Magalie Guerin, Van Hanos, Roni Horn, Aaron Flint Jamison, Zoe Leonard, and Ed Ruscha.
In a press release announcing the appointment, Mack Fowler and Annabelle Selldorf, Co-chairs, of the Chinati’s Board of Trustees stated, “The board is extremely pleased to welcome Caitlin Murray as Chinati’s next executive director. The museum’s mission is to continue to implement and preserve Donald Judd’s vision for art, landscape and architecture in Marfa. We believe that Murray will fulfill that mission with excellence, passion, and enthusiasm. We are also certain that Murray’s leadership will continue to enhance audiences’ experiences with Judd in Marfa.”
Ms. Murray remarked, “I am honored by the opportunity to deepen my engagement with Donald Judd’s legacy at the Chinati Foundation and to lead this extraordinary artist-founded and artist-centered organization. Working with Flavin and Rainer Judd and the board and staff of Judd Foundation during the last fifteen years has given me the opportunity to understand Judd’s range as an artist, and his commitment to art, architecture, design, politics, and the natural world. As executive director, I look forward to working with a group of friends and supporters who share my commitment to Chinati’s future.”
Ms. Murray replaces Jenny Moore, who stepped down last summer and was recently named the founding director of Tinworks Art in Bozeman, Montana. Ms. Murray will step into her new role in mid-May.
