DiBenedetto joins the Chazen as the Museum embarks on a major reinstallation of its permanent collection.
Chazen Museum of Art curator Erica DiBenedetto, Ph.D.
Photo by Marcin J. Muchalski, Diamond Shot Studio
MADISON, Wis. — The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison) has named Erica DiBenedetto, Ph.D., as its new curator. DiBenedetto will advance the Museum’s commitment to scholarship and global representation by stewarding approximately 10,000 objects in the Chazen’s collection of paintings, sculpture, glass, ceramics and multi-media works. She will also guide student research and hire and mentor undergraduate and graduate students at UW–Madison. Her appointment begins April 6.
“As the Chazen Museum of Art embarks on a transformative reinstallation of the permanent collection, Erica DiBenedetto’s oversight of the Chazen’s non-works on paper holdings will play a pivotal role in shaping a museum experience that is accessible, engaging and resonates with a global audience. Her expertise will advance new scholarship and illuminate fresh perspectives within the Chazen’s collection,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art and senior director for the arts and media at UW–Madison.
DiBenedetto joins the Chazen Museum of Art from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where she served as a curatorial assistant and curatorial associate in the department of painting and sculpture. Her most recent work involved traveling to Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe to interview artists and access art collections and archives. DiBenedetto says that experience sparked her interest in the Chazen’s Contemporary African Art Initiative, a five-year project that established a collection of over 45 works by 24 artists across 12 countries, including Senegal, Tunisia and Ethiopia. Supported largely by the Straus Family Foundation, the acquisitions build upon the Museum’s initial contemporary African holdings from the late 1990s.
“The Chazen Museum of Art’s commitment to contemporary African art initially drew me to this role. I quickly became enamored with how the Chazen inspires experimentation on campus and beyond. What excites me most about being part of a research university is the opportunity to collaborate with students and faculty across disciplines, helping the Museum be both a resource for the academic community as well as a site of learning and discovery for the community at large,” said DiBenedetto.
DiBenedetto looks forward to the upcoming reinstallation of the Chazen’s permanent collection to develop exhibitions and programs that prioritize close looking and spark curiosity about the wide range of artworks on view. Her aim is to continue to advance the Chazen’s goal to be a place that encourages reflection and inquiry while presenting new threads that connect artists and works across time and geographies.
“Art is full of ideas. It helps us think about the world in which we live and invites us to consider every detail — from the most mundane to the highly philosophical. The power of art lies in its ability to prompt conversation, and museums provide critical spaces for thinking and looking. I look forward to pairing my expertise with the Chazen’s efforts to foster an environment where visitors feel comfortable being curious,” said DiBenedetto.
At MoMA, DiBenedetto also assisted with an exhibition of hundreds of drawings by Ivorian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré and an exhibition of 19th-century objects related to Isaac Julien’s “Lessons of the Hour.” She is also a recognized expert on the artist Sol LeWitt, on whom she wrote her dissertation. In 2018, she was appointed as an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation museum research consortium fellow at MoMA. She was also a guest curator at Menil Drawing Institute in Houston; an intern at Princeton University Art Museum; a co-curator and director’s intern at Williams College Museum of Art in Massachusetts; and a departmental assistant at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. She also held instructional roles at Princeton University and Williams College.
“As a curator and scholar, Erica DiBenedetto bridges rigorous academic research with public-facing exhibition making. With teaching experience at Princeton University and at Williams College, she is exceptionally well positioned to collaborate with students and faculty and to bring new research directly into the Chazen’s galleries,” said Katherine Alcauskas, chief curator at the Chazen Museum of Art.
DiBenedetto holds doctoral and master’s degrees in art and archaeology from Princeton University, a master’s degree in the history of art from Williams College and a Bachelor of Humanities and Arts with a focus on aesthetics, culture and social process from Carnegie Mellon University. Her writing has been featured in numerous exhibition catalogs, essays and arts publications.
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