: Laura Parsons, president of the Board of Trustees of the American
Folk Art Museum, has announced that Maria Ann Conelli, PhD, has
been appointed to the position of director of the American Folk
Art Museum. Conelli succeeds Gerard C. Wertkin who in April 2004
announced his intention to retire at the end of 2004 after 24
years of service, 13 of them as director. Wertkin has been named
director emeritus.
Conelli will join the museum in June. In the interim, Linda
Dunne, the museum's chief administrative officer, will serve as
acting director.
Parsons said of the appointment, "After a thorough and careful
search, I am delighted to welcome Maria Ann Conelli. She brings
leadership skills that include - but certainly are not limited to
- the development of programs in collaboration with other
organizations, fundraising, an understanding of artistic,
curatorial and conservation issues, and a track record of
facilitating the physical and intellectual growth of
institutions. As a distinguished art scholar and exemplary
administrator, Maria is the perfect choice to lead this museum in
the Twenty-First Century."
Conelli expressed her pleasure in accepting the appointment,
saying, "I am honored to serve as the new director of the
American Folk Art Museum. I look forward to continuing its fine
tradition of outstanding exhibitions and public programs and will
work to bring the museum to a wider audience through enhanced
collaborations and partnerships."
Maria Ann Conelli comes to the museum from the Fashion Institute
of Technology where she is currently the dean of the School of
Graduate Studies and acting dean of the School of Art and Design.
Prior to her position at FIT, from 1991 to 2001, Conelli was the
chair of the Smithsonian's graduate programs in the history of
decorative arts offered in collaboration with Parsons School of
Design and Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and
The Smithsonian Associates in Washington, D.C. She also held
positions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and is a trustee and
an education liaison for The Skyscraper Museum.
Conelli holds a PhD in architectural history from Columbia
University and an MA from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York
University. She received her BA in art history from Brooklyn
College.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants,
including the National Endowment for the Arts, J. Paul Getty
Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities
and is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. She has taught
in both the United States and Europe, curated exhibitions
focusing on architecture, fashion and decorative arts, and
lectured widely on Sixteenth and Seventeenth century art,
architecture and landscape design.
