Milwaukee Art Museum
Press Release

Milwaukee Art Museum chief curator to take director position at Florida museum

Brady Roberts’ last day at the Museum is October 21.

By - Oct 14th, 2016 02:42 pm
Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Milwaukee Art Museum.

Milwaukee, Wis.- October 14, 2016—The Milwaukee Art Museum announced today that its chief curator, Brady Roberts, is leaving to become the executive director/CEO of the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Vero Beach, Florida. Roberts came to the Museum in 2009. During his seven-year tenure, Roberts elevated the institution’s contemporary art program and oversaw the 2015 reinstallation of the Museum’s collections.

As chief curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Roberts organized several notable exhibition projects. In 2012, Roberts mounted an exhibition of the site-specific installations of New York–based artist Tara Donovan—an artist emerging as one of the most talented of her generation. In that same year, Roberts secured a major video work by the pioneering London-based artist Isaac Julien. Julien’s Expeditions trilogy—True North (2004), Fantôme Afrique (2005) and Western Union: Small Boats (2007)—was, for the first time, presented in its entirety, sequentially, at the Museum. In 2014, together with the Centre Pompidou, Roberts co-organized a major Wassily Kandinsky retrospective. The international partnership with the Paris museum, one of the major repositories of work by Kandinsky, allowed for a rich and comprehensive look at the career of one of the most important and revolutionary artists of the twentieth century.

Roberts played a key role in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s 2015 major reinstallation project, which culminated in a sweeping renovation of its two original buildings. In addition to leading the first major reinstallation of the Museum’s Collection Galleries, Roberts played a key role in the successful $34 million capital campaign for this project. He also successfully guided key acquisitions by Tara Donovan, Thomas Struth, Yinka Shonabare and David Schnell, among others.

“The Milwaukee Art Museum is grateful to Mr. Roberts for his significant contributions to the Museum’s curatorial program, ones that lay the foundation for the visionary work of the years ahead,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director. “We wish him great success in his directorial debut at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.”

Roberts’ last day at the Museum is October 21.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum

Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. The Museum recently reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

Recent Press Releases by Milwaukee Art Museum

Art in Bloom Fills the Milwaukee Art Museum with Spectacular Art-Inspired Floral Arrangements

Welcome spring at the Museum with an abundance of flowers, art making, and more!

Milwaukee Art Museum Presents Award-Winning Artworks by Wisconsin Teens in 2024 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition

Showcasing hundreds of works of art made by students in grades 7–12, the 2024 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition celebrates the next generation of the state's artists with the entire community.

Free Day + Celebration Commemorates Hometown Hero Vel Phillips

The Milwaukee Art Museum partners with the Vel Phillips Legacy Initiative to kickstart the Year of Vel Phillips, a statewide commemoration in the trailblazer's honor.

One thought on “Milwaukee Art Museum chief curator to take director position at Florida museum”

  1. Christina Zawadiwsky says:

    We will all miss Brady Roberts, and I wish him all the luck in the world in his new position!

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us