USU Art Museum Hires New Curator & Head of Academic Initiatives

LOGAN, Utah — After an extensive search, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University welcomes Danielle Stewart, Ph.D., as their new Curator and Head of Academic Engagement. Stewart brings experience as an art history professor and a curator to this role.

She specializes in the modern and contemporary art of the Americas, aligning well with the Museum’s mission of modern and contemporary American Art from the Western United States.

“Danielle’s previous experience as both an art history professor and a museum curator are exactly what we need in this position, so I am very pleased to have her join our team," said Katie Lee-Koven, NEHMA director and chief curator. "The museum is a learning resource to faculty and classes across USU’s campus and Dr. Stewart will work with each of them to ensure we meet their needs. She will also have the opportunity to contribute to our exhibition planning in her curatorial role.”

Additionally, she has an adjunct assistant professor appointment in the Department of Art and Design so that she can be a resource to their art and art history students and to support her academic growth.

Although Stewart has lived elsewhere nationally and internationally, she has family roots here in Cache Valley.

“Logan and USU share an important place in my personal history, so I am very happy to be serving the Cache Valley art community,” Stewart says.

From 2019 to 2020, Danielle was a fellow in the Princeton Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. From 2020-2023, she held the position of Assistant Professor of Latin American Art at the University of Warwick in the UK. She has also held curatorial positions at the BYU Museum of Art and the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City.

Born and raised near San Francisco, California, educated in Utah, and a long-time resident of Harlem, New York, Danielle has also lived in Curitiba, Brazil, and Coventry, UK. This broad range of environments fundamentally informs Danielle’s research. Danielle completed her master of philosophy and Ph.D. in Art History at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and her BA and MA degrees at Brigham Young University.

Danielle's writing has appeared in publications sponsored by the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, the Instituto Moreira Salles, the Fundación Cisneros, the Universidad de los Andes, the College Art Association, the Latin American Studies Association, and The Space Between society.

About Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art: The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University fosters engagement with modern and contemporary art to facilitate learning and promote dialogue about ideas important to the people of Utah and the mission of Utah State University. Admission is free and open to all. Parking is available in the free museum parking stalls and at the Gateway Terrace.

For more information, visit artmuseum.usu.edu or contact Shaylee Briones: shaylee.briones@usu.edu, 435-797-0227.