Emily Neff, who took the job as director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma just last January, left the job quietly last month. Neff, who was formerly curator of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, resigned–probably under pressure–in early October, according to local reports, and it was accepted by the university president, David Boren, and then in late October by the board of regents. .
I have not been able to reach Neff, so I will not be able to go into details. But my understanding from talking with art world sources is that it was a mismatch from the get-go. Her strategy and her approach did not mesh with those of the museum’s advisory board or staff.
Neff, also chief curator at the Fred Jones museum, was a fellow at the Center for Curatorial Leadership a few years ago and is president of the Association of Art Museum Curators.
Here is a link to one of the local reports, in the Oklahoman,
On a more pleasant note, Benedict Leca, who curated The World is An Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cezanne exhibition (answering five questions about it here) at the Barnes, and had been chief curator of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, in Ontario, and previously curator of European art at the Cincinnati Art Museum, has been named executive director of the Redwood Library & Athenæum in Newpost, RI.
The Redwood has a permanent collection of art, as well as space for changing exhibitions, I’m told. Currently, it is presenting a small show called Portraits of Interiors, including “interior landscapes of Newport houses by Walter Gay, David Mode Payne, and Mstislav Dobujinsky as well as contemporary artists working in and continuing the legacy of this genre.”
Leca’s vision for the Redwood includes “expansive art exhibitions,” I’m told. He starts Jan. 15.
You can read more about him and the Redwood here.
Photo Credits: University of Oklahoma (top); Redwood Library (bottom)