The Bruce Museum, a community-based, world-class institution that promotes the understanding and appreciation of art and science recently announced the appointment of Margarita Karasoulas as curator of art. Coming from the Brooklyn Museum, where she has served as assistant curator of American art since 2017, Karasoulas will assume her duties with the Bruce on Nov. 29.
In this new role, Karasoulas will be responsible for organizing exhibitions of major historic and contemporary artists, building the permanent collection and collaborating with curators, designers, program staff and museum and board leaders to create new paradigms supporting the Bruce mission. She will be immediately engaged in preparations for the inaugural exhibitions that will open the newly expanded museum in late 2022 ”“”“ the $60-million-building project will double the size of the existing building and include new, modern and spacious galleries for exhibitions and installations, as well as state-of-the-art spaces for education and community events.
“I”™m thrilled to welcome Margarita as curator of art,” said Robert Wolterstorff, The Susan E. Lynch executive director of the Bruce Museum. “She shares our vision of moving the Bruce”™s exhibitions and collection forward in the direction of global Modern and Contemporary art, while embracing our wonderful historical collections”¦.”
A specialist in 19th- and early 20th-century American art, with a particular focus on early American modernism, issues of race and representation and the history of photography, Karasoulas received a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Delaware and holds a Master of Arts degree in art history from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor or Arts degree in art history and history from Lafayette College.
The museum building was originally built as a private home in 1853, the house and property were purchased in 1858 by Robert Moffat Bruce (1822-1909), a wealthy textile merchant and member of the New York Cotton Exchange and were deeded to the town of Greenwich in 1908 with the stipulation that they be used as “a natural history, historical and art museum for the use and benefit of the public.” The first exhibition at the Bruce Museum took place in 1912 and featured works by local artists known as the Greenwich Society of Artists.
