Press Release The Warhol Appoints Aaron Levi Garvey Chief Curator

For immediate release

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

The Andy Warhol Museum has appointed Aaron Levi Garvey as its new chief curator. He will assume his role in summer 2023.

Garvey is a Jewish-American curator whose work primarily focuses on the cross section of contemporary art culture and community building by creating accessible public programs and exhibitions within institutions and alternative spaces. He is currently the Janet L. Nolan director of curatorial affairs at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama; the chief curator and vice chair of programs at The Hudson Eye/Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation in New York, New York; and the co-founder and board advisor of Long Road Projects Foundation, Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida and Erie, Pennsylvania.

“I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for being entrusted with this all-important role within The Warhol,” said Garvey. “I am looking forward to engaging the next generation of diverse artistic voices with the legacy of Andy Warhol, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the city of Pittsburgh.”

As the Janet L. Nolan director of curatorial affairs at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Garvey worked on numerous high level projects including the cultivation of institutional supporters on passion initiatives such as the Martin Moss Freeman ’77 Fund for Excellence endowment to support the acquisition of Jewish contemporary artists; rewriting and implementing a new collection management policy with a focus on up-to-date collecting practices, conservation and diversity, equity, inclusion and access; guiding the curatorial department’s deliverables for American Association of Museums reaccreditation; acquiring works by leading women, POC and LGBTQIA+ artists into the collection; conceptualizing and curating a serialized group of exhibitions by emerging and established contemporary artists entitled Radical Naturalism which investigates the museum’s permanent collection and the legacy of John James Audubon; and leading a cross departmental collaborative endeavor to commission and install public art within university department buildings and accession works into the collection.

Garvey’s work as chief curator and vice chair of programs at The Hudson Eye/Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation included curating the annual 10-day program of lectures, visual art exhibitions, public art installations and performances in Hudson, New York.

At Long Road Projects Foundation, Inc. Garvey’s work as director, curator and co-founder included cultivating and building a board of directors with the founders of the organization and welcoming diverse emerging and established artists annually to participate in the visiting artist’s residency program.

As an independent curator, Garvey curated and produced notable exhibitions and public programs for The Contemporary Art Center of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana; The Baker Museum / Artis Naples, Naples, Florida; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, Georgia; Alabama Contemporary, Mobile, Alabama; the inaugural contemporary art exhibition We Are What We Eat at the United Nations Headquarters in New York; and advised on corporate, private and non-profit organization and collection building.

Previous to his current positions, Garvey held leadership and research positions with the Art For Thought Foundation in New York, New York; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Georgia; and The Jacobsen Foundation and Collection of American Art in New York, New York.

Garvey holds a Bachelor of Art in art history with a concentration in modern and contemporary art from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and a Master of Art in art administration/museum administration from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. His additional professional experiences include guest curating and collaborating on a variety of exhibitions, writing for exhibition catalogues and other publications, guest lecturing and other research work.

“Aaron stood out in a strong field of national candidates for his commitment to supporting individual artists, particularly artists of color, while also articulating innovative ways to present Warhol’s work to the public,” said Patrick Moore, director of The Warhol. “As our next chief curator, Aaron is uniquely positioned to guide the museum’s artistic direction.”

The Warhol’s national search for a chief curator was led by Koya Partners.

The Warhol receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

The Andy Warhol Museum

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Andy Warhol Museum holds the largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials and is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Warhol is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Established in 1895 by Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a collection of four distinctive museums: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. The museums reach more than 1.4 million people a year through exhibitions, educational programs, outreach activities, and special events.

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