The O’Keeffe Museum Welcomes New Trustees and Staff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 27, 2023 (Santa Fe, NM) – The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is proud to announce three new members of its Board of Trustees and two new additions to the Museum’s administrative staff.
“We are very excited to welcome new members to our Board of Trustees and to our team at the Museum,” says Cody Hartley, Director of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. “It’s an exciting time to be at the Museum, and this group brings new layers of experience and innovation to our work. I’m confident they will be assets to the Museum as we move toward our future goals.”
Robert Schupbach joined the board of Trustees in November 2022 after a career with a global manufacturing firm. Robert is involved with several non-profits throughout Texas as well as The University of Texas at Austin School of Fine Arts. Schupbach received his BS in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Wendel Wirth was welcomed as a Trustee in January 2023. She is a contemporary, fine art photographer and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. Wirth has worked as a commercial photographer, art director and product designer for a company she founded in the late 80’s. Originally from New York City and Chicago, Wirth’s passion for all things outdoors led her to the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho, where she originally worked as a river guide. Wirth and her husband spend their free time learning and practicing regenerative agriculture on a ranch outside of Sun Valley. Wirth holds an MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and a BFA from Denison University in Ohio.
Karen Miller Nearburg is the newest member of the Board of Trustees, having joined in April 2023. She was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, and earned her BA in Fine Arts and Child Development from Tufts University, her Ed.M. from Harvard University, and her M.A. in art history from the University of Maryland, College Park. Karen spent 15 years in Alaska and wrote her M.A. thesis on the work of contemporary Inupiat sculptor Susie Bevins (Susie Bevins- Ericsen/Qimmiqsak). Since then, she has worked in museums and galleries and was Assistant Curator at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College, where she now serves on the Board of Advisors. In 2019, she curated Dwayne Wilcox: Visual/Language at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, among other exhibitions. In 2021, Visual/Language: The Ledger Drawings of Dwayne Wilcox was published. Karen and her husband have homes in Dallas and Santa Fe.
Jenna Wixson brings more than 20 years of experience to her role as Director of Learning and Engagement at the Museum. Prior to the O’Keeffe, Wixson was an independent consultant for museums in New York City, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, and from 2015 to 2020 was
Assistant Director for Interpretation, Research, and Digital Learning at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Wixson’s background includes experience in programming for in-person and online educational events for all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. The winner of 2018 Muse and Webby awards for her work on the MoMA podcast A Piece of Work, Wixson also serves as adjunct faculty for the Museum Administration Program at St. John’s University, in New York City. She holds an MA in Art History from San Jose State University, in California, and a BFA in Art History from Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Bess Murphy was named Luce Curator of Art and Social Practice in November 2022. She joins the Museum after eight years at the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, in Santa Fe, most recently as Creative Director and Curator. In that position she worked with leading Native American artists, community members, and students to develop meaningful programs, exhibitions, and creative experiments. She has taught Art History and Museum Studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts and the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and has held positions at galleries, museums, and art centers as well as alternative artist-led art spaces. Murphy holds a BA in Art History from Bard College, an MA and PhD in 20th-Century American Art History from the University of Southern California, and completed a research fellowship at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in 2015. This position is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation
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For media inquiries, contact: Renee Lucero, Public Relations Manager | 505-946-1063 | rlucero@gokm.org
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ABOUT THE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM: Since 1997, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum celebrates the art, life, and independent spirit of Georgia O’Keeffe. Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Georgia O’Keeffe lived the final decades of her life, the O’Keeffe has sites and experiences in two historic destinations, Santa Fe and Abiquiú. For more information, please visit gokm.org
