The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (the Carter) in Fort Worth has announced the appointment of María Beatriz H. Carrión as the museum’s Assistant Curator of Photographs. Ms. Carrión joins the museum following the 2023 departures of Kristen Gaylord, Associate Curator of Photographs, and John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs.
Ms. Carrión is a PhD candidate in the History of Art at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She specializes in the history of photography in the U.S., with a focus on image-making as it relates to race, gender, and ecology. Her dissertation, Picturing Americans: Indigeneities and Modern Visualities, 1873 – 1929, explores how works by Edward Curtis, Eadweard Muybridge, and Carlos Endara have shaped the relationship between image and viewer, and how photography relates to issues of race and the history of colonialism. Her previous research endeavors have investigated American and European women photographers working during World War II, the history of photography in Latin America, and contemporary Indigenous and Latino photography.
Ms. Carrión holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Ecuador’s Universidad San Francisco de Quito, an MA in History of Art from Tulane University, and an MPhil from CUNY. Prior to joining the Carter, Ms. Carrión served as the Terra Fellow in American Photography at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a Mellon Global Programs Fellow at the Amie and Tony James Gallery at CUNY, and the Elaine Goldman ArtTable Curatorial Fellow at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. During her time at the Rijksmuseum she organized the symposium Interrogating Western Americana: Photography, Indigeneity, and Intersectional Ecology. She has also held positions at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Saint Augustine Cloisters in Quito, Ecuador.
In a press release, Andrew J. Walker, Executive Director of the Carter, said, “María brings a global perspective and a demonstrated interest in interdisciplinary collaboration to the Carter’s curatorial team. Her meticulous scholarship, experience forging meaningful connections with local communities, and passion for the American artistic tradition and its evolution will serve to advance our institution’s mission of telling a multifaceted story of creativity throughout the United States’ history.”
Ms. Carrión will begin her position at the Carter on May 6, 2024.