After a nationwide search, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has chosen Karen Brooks McWhorter to become the new Margaret and Dick Scarlett Curator of Western American Art for its Whitney Western Art Museum. She’ll assume her position on March 2, 2015.
McWhorter succeeds Mindy Besaw, who accepted a curatorial position at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
“The search committee unanimously selected her from the final pool of more than 20 applicants,” explained Bruce Eldredge, the Center’s Executive Director and CEO. “We all felt that her youth was outweighed by her professionalism, knowledge of the field, and passion for art of the American West. We’re very excited to have her on board.”
Most recently, McWhorter has served as a department assistant in charge of research and publications at the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum in Denver, Colorado. Before her current position at the Denver Art Museum, she held many titles in the museum’s education and Native Arts departments. Simultaneously, she was collections manager and curator for a private art collection in Denver, a freelance writer on subjects related to American art history, and an adjunct professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Center’s talented staff and am honored to have been chosen as the next steward of the Whitney’s important collection of western American art. As a long-time admirer of the Whitney’s exhibitions and publications, I am excited to contribute to the museum’s tradition of excellence in programming.”
“Karen comes highly recommended by Thomas Brent Smith, curator and director of the Petrie Institute, and Peter Hassrick, our Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar,” Eldredge continues. “They both felt that she was the right person for our position.” The application process incorporated telephone and on-site interviews which included a lecture to some of the Center’s trustees, advisors, and staff.
McWhorter earned a BA from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2008 where she specialized in studio art, art history, and English. She received her MA in Art History with a concentration in museum studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2010.
Find out more about the Whitney Western Art Museum by clicking here.