Allison Glenn named to Crystal Bridges curatorial post

Allison Glenn. Crystal Bridges image by Mariana Sheppard

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has appointed Allison Glenn to the new role as Associate Curator, Contemporary Art. Glenn joins the Crystal Bridges curatorial team on Feb. 12.

Glenn will contribute to the growing contemporary art program with exhibition development, publications and planning. She will be contributing to ongoing projects and collaborations, including the further development of the North Forest and collection focus shows.

Glenn comes to Crystal Bridges from Prospect New Orleans, as manager of publications and curatorial associate where she oversaw the catalog development and aspects of artists’ projects related to the international art triennial “Prospect.4: The Lotus in Spite of the Swamp,” which opened in November 2017.

Prior to Prospect, Glenn was the director of Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago, where she co-directed and oversaw the careers of 16 emerging and early-career artists, curating the 2015 exhibition “Look at Me Now!” with rising artists such as Nina Chanel Abney, who recently installed a mural at Crystal Bridges.

Forthcoming projects include “Out of Easy Reach,” hosted by DePaul Art Museum, a cross-institutional exhibition countering conventional accounts of abstraction through an intergenerational cross-section of 24 female-identifying artists working now, who employ abstraction in their work. A full-color catalog, authored and edited by Glenn, will accompany the show.

Glenn received a bachelor of fine art photography with a co-major in urban studies from Wayne State University in Detroit and dual masters degrees in modern art history, theory and criticism and arts administration, and policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Allison already has an impressive body of work – and we look forward to her continuing to advance the field of American art at Crystal Bridges. She will be a fantastic asset to our team and our community,” said Lauren Haynes, Crystal Bridges curator, Contemporary Art. “She brings a collaborative approach and great perspective that will help build on our contemporary art program and connect visitors to engaging arts experiences.”