Brooke Davis Anderson
November 19, 2015
The Nasher Museum welcomed Brooke Davis Anderson, executive director of Prospect New Orleans/U.S. Biennial, the largest international triennial in the United States. For the Annual Semans Lecture, Anderson gave a talk, “Contemporary Art Meets the Big Easy,” about the history of the city-wide exhibition, with an emphasis on last year’s Prospect 3. She also talked about working with Trevor Schoonmaker, who was appointed the artistic director of Prospect 4, opening in fall 2017, and has continued in his role as Chief Curator and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum.Before joining Prospect New Orleans, Anderson was deputy director of curatorial planning at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Previously, she was founding director and curator of the Contemporary Center at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, where she curated many exhibitions (most notably projects on contemporary self-taught artists), authored several books and numerous articles, and led the $1 million acquisition of the Henry Darger Study Center. She has been an assistant professor at Columbia University, City College of New York and Winston-Salem State University. From 1992-1999, Anderson was director of the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University.
The Annual Semans Lecture was established in 1996 in honor of the late Dr. James H. Semans and Mary D.B.T. Semans. Past speakers include curator Matthew Gale, scholar Henry Petroski, architect Rafael Viñoly, artist Fred Wilson and museum directors Thelma Golden and Thomas Krens.
Photo of Brooke Davis Anderson and Trevor Schoonmaker by J Caldwell.