Denise Smith Joins ExhibitsUSA as Curatorial Assistant

ExhibitsUSA Hires Curatorial Assistant

Denise Smith has been hired as the new part-time Curatorial Assistant for ExhibitsUSA, the national museum service division of Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Smith, an art history graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, formerly worked as Exhibitor Relations Assistant for ExhibitsUSA.

As Curatorial Assistant, Smith will participate in all stages of exhibition development, including communications with curators. She also will manage exhibition development timelines, schedule meetings, assist with preparation of public presentations, and conduct research.

“We are extremely pleased that Denise is going to fill a key role in our curatorial department,” said Lin Nelson-Mayson, Director of ExhibitsUSA. “She is already familiar with our organization through her work in Exhibitor Relations, and her academic career and many internship experiences have amply prepared her for this position.”

Smith has worked as art gallery associate for The Willis Gallery and as an archivist/registrar intern at The National Civil Rights Museum and The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, all of Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, she has been a graduate research assistant in the art history department and a government documents assistant at the Miller Nicols Library, both on the UMKC campus. Most recently, she has worked as an intern at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

"I have enjoyed working at ExhibitsUSA for over a year now, and as the new curatorial assistant, I look forward to wonderful opportunities of working with key members of the organization as well as with our many organizing curators,” said Smith. “I am very excited about the challenges to come."

Smith received her BA in art history from The University of Memphis, Tennessee. She expects to complete her Master of Arts degree in art history in May 2005.

Mid-America Arts Alliance, founded in 1972, is a nonprofit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. It is governed by a board of directors drawn from its partner states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, contact Sarah McGreer at sarah@maaa.org.