Curator to leave Crystal Bridges

Curator of American art Kevin Murphy plans to leave Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to take the same post at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Mass. His first day will be Sept. 3.

Murphy, who becamethe museum’s curator of American art prior to its Nov. 11, 2011, opening, had previously worked as associate curator ofAmerican art at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. His departure comes as the museum continues to look for a director of the curatorial department, a position vacated in January by David Houston.

Houston became executive director of the new Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga.

Murphy’s position and the job of chief curator/ director of curatorial are the only ones the museum is actively seeking to fill,said Diane Carroll, a spokesman at the museum.

Carroll said a chief curator would likely be hired first, and that person would be charged with hiring Murphy’s replacement. In the meantime, Murphy’s departure leaves assistant curator Manuela Well-Off-Man and a support team to largely care for the museum’s curatorial duties.

Murphy didn’t return a message Monday. Carroll saidMurphy was busy installing the “Angels & Tomboys” exhibit, which opens at the museum this weekend.

Murphy was a key figure in the museum’s opening and helped organize the inaugural installation of art collections within the museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space.

He oversees the Tyson Scholars of American Art, a residential fellowship program, and has helped the museum expand its American art collection by proposing major acquisitions by such notable artists as Thomas Hart Benton, John Singer Sargent, JohnSloan and William Wetmore Story.

He also built the museum’s print collection, adding more than 500 artists, including Edward Hopper, Charles Sheeler, Sloan and James A.M. Whistler, according to a Williams College Museum of Art news release Friday announcing Murphy’s hiring.

“It’s a thrilling moment to join [the college],” Murphy said in the news release. “I’m looking forward to working with the museum staff, faculty, and students to create dynamic programming for American art, with the museum’s outstanding collection providing a great springboard.”

Carroll said Murphy had lived in Massachusetts and wanted to go back.

Murphy has curated exhibits on American art that range from the 19th century to the present, specializing in 19th- and early-20th-century painting and early-20th-century prints, the release said.

He has also taught art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Los Angeles; and San Diego Mesa College.