The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has announced that Claire Howard will be leaving her role at the Blanton Museum of Art to join their institution as the Hansjörg Wyss Curator of Modern Art.
Claire Howard. Photo: Manny Alcalá
Ms. Howard joined the Blanton as Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2017 and has since been promoted to Associate Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. During her tenure she organized exhibitions such as Suzanne Bocanegra: Valley (2021), Ideas in Sensuous Form: The International Symbolist Movement (2018), and Joiri Minaya: Labadee (2019), as well as Contemporary Projects with Lily Cox-Richard (2019), and Las Hermanas Iglesias (2022). Prior to Ms. Howard’s departure, the exhibition Long Live Surrealism! 1924–Today, that she organized will open at the Blanton this fall. She will also return next spring to be present for the opening of Arshile Gorky and Isamu Noguchi: Outside In, part of a three-part exhibition In Creative Harmony, that highlights relationships between pairs of artists.
Hannah Klemm, the Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Blanton, told Glasstire, “Since I started at the Blanton, it’s been clear how much Claire has contributed to the modern & contemporary art program in her long tenure, first as a graduate student more than ten years ago and now as an associate curator overseeing collections and exhibitions. Her art historical scholarship and impact at the Blanton continues even after her departure with two wonderful exhibitions opening soon. On behalf of the Blanton’s curatorial team, I wish Claire all the best and can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in Boston.”
Prior to working at the Blanton, Ms. Howard served as a Vivian L. Smith Foundation Fellow at the Menil Collection in Houston (2016-2017), a graduate research assistant in American and Contemporary Art at the Blanton (2010-2013), and a research assistant in Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2006-2010), among other roles. She holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin (UT), where her dissertation was on Surrealism and Post-World War II Culture. Ms. Howard is a founding board member of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism and has published widely on the movement. She also has an MA in Art History from UT and a BA in Art History and English from Wellesley College.
According to a press release, Ms. Howard will be working, “Under the direction of Ian Alteveer, Beal Family Chair… within a growing department focused on the art of the 20th century to today, presented in a global context.”
Ms. Howard told Glasstire, “I’m thrilled to take on this new role at the MFA Boston in the growing Department of Contemporary Art. It’s a welcome homecoming to the Northeast, where I grew up and began my museum career, but I will treasure the 14 years I’ve spent in Texas and the vibrant art community I’ve been fortunate to participate in here. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to grow with the Blanton, where I’ve worked with so many brilliant colleagues and artists who have trusted me with their work. I’m excited to bring all I’ve learned here to Boston.”
Ms. Howard’s last day at the Blanton will be September 6 and she will begin her new role later that month.
