The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston (UH) has appointed Linda Shearer as Interim Director following the recent departure of Steven Matijcio.
Ashlyn Davis and Linda Shearer at the Houston Center for Photography Annual Fine Print Auction, 2018. Photo: Laura Burlton/Paper City.
Ms. Shearer has served in interim director positions at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston (2007 – 2009), Houston Cinema Arts Society, and Houston Center for Photography. Additionally, from 2009 to 2015 she was the Director of Project Row Houses. Prior to moving to Houston, Ms. Shearer served as the director of the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts (1989 – 2004) and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati (2004 – 2006). She has also held the positions of Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, Executive Director of Artists Space, and Associate Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York City.
Andrew Davis, Dean of the Katherin G. McGovern College of the Arts at UH, told Glasstire, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to appoint Linda Shearer as Interim Director at the Blaffer Museum. Linda’s range of expertise and experience in museums, and her deep ties to the city of Houston, will make her an asset to the University of Houston, even for the limited amount of time that she will be with us.”
Beyond her work at museums and arts centers, Ms. Shearer has taught contemporary art history at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Williams College, and in the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. She has served on the boards of the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Federation of the Arts. Currently, she is a member of the Civic Art Committee of the Houston Arts Alliance.
Ms. Shearer will serve in the interim position until a new permanent director of the museum is appointed. According to Mr. Davis, this is expected to be in the next six months.
