James Voorhies appointed John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Director of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts announced today the appointment of James Voorhies as the first John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Director of the Carpenter Center, effective February 5, 2014. A curator, art historian, and writer, Voorhies comes to the Carpenter Center from Bureau for Open Culture, an itinerant contemporary arts institution where he was director. Most recently based in Bennington, Vermont, he taught art history and critical theory in the Visual Arts department at Bennington College.

“We are delighted to have Jim take the helm,” said Carrie Lambert-Beatty, Harvard professor and interim director of the Carpenter Center. “This new position opens a chapter in the Carpenter Center’s history. Jim has a record as both an experimenter and a collaborator, and brings a vision of contemporary art as an integral part of Harvard’s intellectual life.”

“Throughout his career, James Voorhies has conceived of art exhibitions as fundamentally open, experimental, innovative, and collaborative sites of knowledge production and exchange,” said Deborah Martin Kao, Chief Curator; Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography; and Acting Head, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums. “The Harvard Art Museums greatly look forward to working in close partnership with the Carpenter Center under his leadership.”

Voorhies will be responsible for the development and presentation of exhibitions and public programming at the Carpenter Center, and will teach courses in curatorial practice and contemporary art.