Former fellow picked as curator
SItLUDUrT » After a national search, the Fitchburg Art Museum has announced that Lauren Szumita has been chosen as its next curator, according to a release from the museum.
Szumita succeeds former FAM Curator Lisa Crossman, who moved on to become the Curator of American Art and Art of the Americas at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.
As curator, Szumita will oversee FAM’s permanent collection, exhibition program and public art initiatives. She will also play an active role in the Museum’s partnership with Fitchburg State University and collaborate with other FAM staff on education and community engagement programs.
“Lauren was the unanimous choice of our Curator Search Team because her experience so closely matches the curatorial priorities identified in our Strategic Plan. She also has specific expertise in the medium of photography, which is a growth area for FAM, and has been a champion for contemporary New England artists,” said FAM’s Director Nick Capasso. “Her extensive work with museum collections will also help us as we plan a comprehensive on-site storage facility for FAM’s 7,000 works of art. And she’s deeply familiar with FAM and Fitchburg due to her prior work here as a Curatorial Fellow.”
“I am thrilled to be returning to the Fitchburg Art Museum,” Szumita said, “an organization that has played an integral role in my own career path and holds a place in my heart. I know firsthand how passionate, creative, and hardworking the staff, Trustees, and volunteers at FAM are and I am incredibly lucky to be joining their ranks. It is an honor to be able to contribute to FAM’s mission of addressing the needs of the community while exploring the possibilities and
power of art.”
Szumita is currently the Curatorial Assistant of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Worcester Art Museum. At WAM, she oversees the Central Massachusetts Artists Initiative, helped to organize “Photo Revolution: Andy Warhol to Cindy Sherman,” and works extensively with WAM’s permanent collection.
In 2017-2018, she served as FAM’s Koch Curatorial Fellow. During her Fellowship, she worked with Crossman on the exhibitions “People Watching: Then and Now,” and “Fantastical, Political.”
She co-curated “The Collected Image: Photography Portfolios” with FAM’s Consulting Curator for Photography Stephen Jareckie, and organized “Mirrors and Windows: Photographs from FAM’s Permanent Collection,” as well as the 83rd Regional Exhibition of Art & Craft.
Szumita earned a master’s degree in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Oregon, a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, and a Certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University. She will begin her work at FAM on Jan. 26.