Huntsville, Ala – Glenn D. Lowry, director of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, will speak at the Huntsville Museum of Art (HMA) APRIL 21 at 7 p.m. in a highly-anticipated and first visit to Alabama. After accepting the invitation to speak from friend and museum colleague Christopher J. Madkour, HMA’s executive director, Lowry was added as a bonus event to the museum’s Voices of Our Times 2016 lecture series.
Lowry is the sixth director of MoMA, a position he has held since 1995. Leading a staff of more than 750, he continues the Museum’s legacy of enriching public life through exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and digital tools which challenge conventional ideas about modern and contemporary art and design. His initiatives bring MoMA’s renowned collection and research to audiences worldwide.
“I have been speaking with Glenn about coming to the Huntsville Museum of Art for several years now,” Madkour said. “When he accepted, we were all very excited and honored. We hope the public will take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear from such an important, connected leader in today’s contemporary arts world,” he added.
Lowry guided MoMA’s 2004 expansion and accompanying capital campaign, raising $450 million for the new building and more than $450 million for the endowment and other related expenses. He is currently leading a renovation and expansion project that will offer MoMA visitors a more welcoming, participatory experience and unprecedented access to the museum’s collection and programming.
In addition, Lowry has significantly developed MoMA’s holdings in all mediums, adding entire collections of contemporary drawings, Fluxus, and Conceptual art, along with the archives of Frank Lloyd Wright. A strong advocate of contemporary art and artists who are shaping current art practice, he has overseen recent acquisitions of works by Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Broodthaers, Paul Chan, Lygia Clark, David Hammons, Rachel Harrison, Zoe Leonard, Steve McQueen, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Mira Schendel, Richard Serra, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Cy Twombly.
Tickets to the HMA Voices event are on sale NOW and are $25 for Museum members and $40 for nonmembers. HMA’s Artist’s Circle and Benefactor members will be admitted for free.
Voices of Our Times series sponsors include Alabama Media Group/al.com/The Huntsville Times, Colonial Graphics, Davidson Technologies, and PNC. Sponsors for An Evening with Glenn Lowry include Nell and David Johnston, Shelbie King, and Carolyn Wade.
For more information or to register for the event, visit www.hsvmuseum.org or call 256-535-4350 extensions 200 or 208.
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About Glenn D. Lowry:
Glenn D. Lowry’s major initiatives at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York include the creation of a new curatorial department, Media and Performance Art, in 2009; the establishment of the Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives in a Global Age Initiative (C-MAP), a research program for the exchange of knowledge and ideas between arts experts around the world in 2009; and the successful merger of MoMA and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) in 1999—all of which support the contemporary, global work that Lowry and the museum have long championed.
Lowry lectures and writes in support of contemporary art, on the role of museums in society, and on other topics related to his research interests. He is a member of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the steering committee for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and a resident member of the American Philosophical Society. Lowry also serves on the advisory council of the department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. In 2004, the French government honored him with the title of Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Born in 1954 in New York City and raised in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Lowry is married to the former Susan Chambers, with whom he has three children. He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1976 (magna cum laude) from Williams College, a Master of Arts in 1978 and a doctorate in 1982 in the history of art from Harvard University, and honorary degrees from the College of William and Mary and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.