Newfields names Michael Vetter to contemporary art post
Dr. Michael Vetter. Newfields image
INDIANAPOLIS – Newfields has appointed Michael Vetter as Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art. In this role, Vetter will create a vision for the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s contemporary art program, including a plan for reinstalling the permanent collection.
The collection encompasses over 900 works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, prints, video and installation art. Beyond the IMA Galleries, Vetter will be responsible for outdoor sculpture commissions in the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres.
“We are very excited for the energy that Dr. Vetter will bring to the museum’s contemporary art program. He, in collaboration with our curatorial, exhibition and interpretation teams will help reimagine not only the reinstallation of the permanent collection but also a comprehensive vision for contemporary art across campus,” said Preston Bautista, Deputy Director for Public Programs and Audience Engagement.
Vetter comes to Newfields from the University of Maryland Art Gallery, where, most recently, he curated the exhibition “Progress and Harmony for Mankind: Art and Technology circa 1970,” which opened in January 2018. Vetter has also worked at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. There, he contributed research and writing for a 2014 reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection, as well as for the exhibitions Robert Irwin: “All the Rules will Change” and “Days of Endless Time.”
Vetter received his master’s degree in art history from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2012 and his doctorate in 2018.
Vetter first engaged with the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields during his dissertation research on Robert Irwin. Vetter credits, in part, Irwin’s Light and Space III, the large contemporary light installation at the heart of the IMA in the Pulliam Family Great Hall to his interest in joining the Newfields curatorial staff.
“What I love about Newfields is that it offers so much potential to continue creating and showing boundary-breaking work. In addition to the expansive gallery space inside the IMA, there are also formal gardens, a historic home, and an art and nature park,” said Vetter. “The Newfields campus offers a wealth of opportunities to rethink how we can make contemporary art relevant and interesting to a wide variety of guests.”
Vetter will begin at Newfields on March 25.
