Yale School of Art names first female dean

Marta Kuzma will replace Robert Storr, who is leaving on sabbatical before the fall semester.

NEW HAVEN >> Yale has named its first female dean of the School of Art in widely traveled curator Marta Kuzma. She will replace Robert Storr, the dean since 2006 who is leaving on sabbatical before the fall semester, the university announced.

Kuzma, vice chancellor and rector of the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, Sweden, was named in an announcement to the Yale community Tuesday by President Peter Salovey.

“Marta is an independent and creative thinker with a track record of making deep connections to students and faculty. I amconfident that she will develop a distinctive vision for the Yale School of Art,” said Salovey. “She has an appreciation for developing ‘courageous’ students, and recognizes the importance of new sensibilities and new contexts for the presentation of artists and art.”

Yale’s School of Art opened in 1869 as the nation’s first art school attached to an institution of higher learning.

Salovey said Kuzma is keenly aware of the paradigm shifts in art and design practices, saying in a release that she believes an art institution should be “creative in character, visionary in formulation, critical in structure and acumen, generous in terms of community building, and collaborative with those who constitute the institution as a whole — its students, professors, and staff.”

Kuzma has 25 years of experience as art curator, writer and academic who understands the role of art in broader social change, the Yale release said.

Kuzma has been head of the Royal Institute of Art for about 17 months. Berit Svedberg, chair of the board, called her “a visionary leader.” Before her tenure there, New Jersey-born Kuzma served for eight years as director of the Office for Contemporary Art Norway and in similar positions in Kiev, Ukraine; Washington, D.C.; and the International Center of Photography in New York.

She is a visiting professor in art theory at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia in Venice, Italy, and at Universita Bocconi in Milan, Italy.

Storr, said Yale’s Salovey in the release, “has been an exemplary leader. During his time as dean, he has hired new faculty, overseen the upgrading of facilities, and brought the school into even greater international prominence.” Salovey said Storr will return to the Yale faculty after a year’s sabbatical.

A Yale spokesman said a specific start date for Kuzma has not been determined, but it will be before the next academic year begins in fall.