The Norton Museum of Art has appointed Dr. Regina Palm as the Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Senior Curator of Modern Art. Palm will join the Norton September 30, 2024. The Norton, in West Palm Beach, Florida, is internationally known for its Collection of Contemporary Art, Chinese Art, and Photography, as well as American and European Art, which Palm will oversee, particularly works created between the mid-1800s and 1960.
Palm joins the Norton from the San Antonio Museum of Art. Prior to her tenure in San Antonio, she held positions at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. She earned her Ph.D. in art history from the University of London, Birkbeck, and holds a master’s degree from San Jose State University and a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Chico.
In this role, she will be responsible for the American and European Modern Art Collections, including paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the Modern era, from circa 1850 to 1960. She will steward and interpret approximately 1,100 objects in this collecting area, developing the installation of the collection galleries with the Curatorial team. She will also lead the institution’s acquisition strategy for Modern art, identifying and recommending new acquisitions and working closely with the Norton’s Modern Acquisition Council. Further, Palm will devise exhibitions based on rigorous research and original ideas that center on the art and artists who defined the late-19th and 20th centuries and identify opportunities for collaboration and activation of Collections alongside Arden Sherman, the Glenn W. and Cornelia T. Bailey Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. In realizing these goals, Palm will join the Curatorial Department as they work with the Learning and Community Engagement, Development, and Communications Departments, among others, to further the Norton’s stated mission of welcoming visitors to experience the transformative power of art through intimate and creative encounters with wideranging collections and programs of the highest quality
“Dr. Regina Palm’s experience and expertise in Modern art will be an invaluable addition to the institution, especially in her focus on art created after the Industrial Age,” said Ghislain d’Humières, Kenneth C. Griffin Director and CEO. “Rather than separate artworks by their geographic origins, this new structure of the position looks at the breadth of Modernism across the globe and allows for an international interpretation of what Modern art can and should encompass. The Norton’s impressive holdings of Modern art, boasting masterpieces from Gauguin to O’Keeffe, find a demonstrated partner in Regina’s curatorial and research-driven leadership. Her talent for leveraging a museum’s collection strengths promises to be realized in groundbreaking new exhibitions.”
Palm has curated several original exhibitions, including Canvas to Clay: Georgia O’Keeffe & Maria Martinez to Mata Ortiz & Tonalá, forthcoming at the San Antonio Museum of Art; “Questions of Identity”; Abstract Revolution: Women Who Empowered a Movement; and American Still Life Moderns. She contributed to numerous exhibitions of Modern art, including Monet: The Late Years; A Modern Vision: European Masterworks from the Phillips Collection; Monet: The Early Years; Painter’s Eye; and Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Scotland.
“I am delighted to be joining such an incredible team whose dedication to serving their community is palpable,” said Palm. “Since its inception, the Norton has set itself apart by endeavoring to collect exemplary works of Modern American and European art. It is my great privilege to become part of this legacy and shepherd the collection for the next generation. While it is not easy to say goodbye to the many tremendous individuals who are the heartbeat of the San Antonio Museum of Art, I am excited and honored to join my new colleagues at the Norton as we work together to continue to move the Museum and its programming forward.”
ABOUT THE NORTON MUSEUM OF ART
Founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, the Norton Museum of Art collects, preserves, and exhibits art, and engages the public through diverse special exhibitions, publications, and events. Programs, lectures, and workshops are held year-round, with an emphasis on activating works on view and inspiring the public through the power of art. The Museum is internationally known for its collection of more than 8,500 works of art in American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art, and Photography.
In 2019, the Museum underwent a comprehensive expansion and renovation, designed by London-based architecture firm Foster + Partners, adding a building which includes over 12,000 square feet of new gallery space, an educational center, a store and restaurant, a sculpture garden, and a Great Hall, serving as the Museum’s “living room.” The new campus also features renovated, Museum-owned, 1920s-era cottages that house artists-in-residence.
The Norton’s Senior Curator of Modern Art is endowed by a generous gift from Harold and Anne Berkely Smith; Mrs. Smith is a Life Trustee and a former president of the Board of Trustees.
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