Curator Lauren Hayes will be joining the Queens Museum as the Director of Curatorial Affairs, starting from July this year.
Haynes, who currently works as a senior curator of contemporary art at the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, NC, was selected for this newly-created position. As the director, she will be managing the curatorial and programs department of the museum. She will also be working closely with the educational programs. This is part of the vision of Sally Tallant (Executive Director, Queens Museum) who wants to integrate all the departments in the museum as an integrated machine. Speaking of the newly-created role, Tallant said in a recent interview: “It’s not just an exhibitions-focused role. It’ll be working with the team to make sure that everything we do makes sense, so whatever experience people are having of art—whether that’s through a school visit, a tour, visiting a major exhibition, or having a year-long residency as an artist—there will be a curatorial oversight to that.”
Lauren Haynes is considered one of the leading new curators in the country, having established her reputation in the last 15 years. She began her career with the Studio Museum at Harlem where she organized some of the most acclaimed exhibitions at the museum. After working there for almost a decade, Haynes joined the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville in 2016. There, she was instrumental in expanding the museum’s collection of contemporary art. She was also one of the factors behind the launch of Crystal’s contemporary art space in 2020. In 2021, she joined the Nasher Museum of Art.
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About the appointment of Lauren Haynes, Tallant said: “She’s going to bring her own kind of energy and approach. Because she’s work in a range of different contexts, I think she’s going to bring great leadership qualities and diversity of experience to the table that will really help nurture our team and give them an opportunity to grow.”
