Phoenix Art Museum And Center For Creative Photography Appoint New Photography Curator

Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) and the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography (CCP) announce Emilia Mickevicius, PhD, as the newly appointed Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography. Mickevicius will divide her time between the two institutions, working with CCP's world-renowned collections to curate exhibitions that will be presented in Phoenix Art Museum's Doris and John Norton Gallery for the Center for Creative Photography. She comes to PhxArt and CCP from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), where she has served as curatorial assistant in the photography department since 2019. Mickevicius begins her role on June 5, 2023.

“We are thrilled to welcome Emilia Mickevicius to Phoenix Art Museum,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “The Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography position is integral to our valued and longstanding partnership with the Center for Creative Photography, and with her significant experience in researching and organizing exhibitions for institutions such as SFMOMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and RISD Museum, Mickevicius will bring invaluable expertise to the Museum's photography exhibitions.”

“Dr. Mickevicius has a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of photography and is invested in making the Center's collection and the resulting exhibitions engaging, educational, and welcoming to everyone who comes to Phoenix Art Museum,” said Rebecca A. Senf, PhD, chief curator at the Center for Creative Photography. “Her authentic passion and contagious enthusiasm for photographs is a delight to experience.”

As Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography, Mickevicius will work with CCP's renowned photography collection to curate exhibitions for Phoenix Art Museum as part of an ongoing partnership between the two Arizona institutions, which began in 2006. The mission of the innovative collaboration, made possible thanks to the generosity of Mr. And Mrs. John R. Norton, is to bring vibrant photography exhibitions, featuring works from the Center's unparalleled collections, to new and larger audiences. Founded in 1975 by renowned photographer Ansel Adams and Dr. John Schaefer, then-president of the University of Arizona, CCP is the premier research collection of American photographic fine art and archives. Over the past two decades, PhxArt and CCP have presented nearly 40 exhibitions that have fostered deeper engagement and understanding of some of the most important photographic works of the 20th century among local, regional, and national audiences.

“I am delighted to bring my passion and expertise in the field of photography to this role of Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography, and I look forward to building upon the history of collaboration and partnership between Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography,” said Mickevicius. “I am excited to work with the Center's celebrated collection, develop new research and scholarship about its significant holdings, and create dynamic programming that engages, educates, and inspires Museum visitors year-round.”

Emilia Mickevicius is an art historian and curator who specializes in 20th century and contemporary U.S. photography. In her role as curatorial assistant in SFMOMA's photography department, she organized and contributed to exhibitions such as Inside Out: Selections from the Sack Photographic Trust (2023); Sightlines: Photographs from the Collection (2022); A Living for Us All: Artists and the WPA (2022); and Kinship: Photography and Connection (2023), as well as the forthcoming presentation, Sea Change: Photographs from the Collection (2023). Prior to joining SFMOMA, Mickevicius held positions in curatorial departments at the Art Institute of Chicago and RISD Museum. In 2019, she received her doctoral degree in the History of Art and Architecture from Brown University, where her dissertation focused on the 1975 George Eastman Museum landscape photography exhibition, New Topographics. Her research has been supported by the Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Center for Creative Photography, and the Getty Research Institute. She received her undergraduate degree in art history from the University of Chicago.

The next photography exhibition organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography will premiere in the Museum's Doris and John Norton Gallery for the Center for Creative Photography in December 2023. More information will be available soon at phxart.org and ccp.arizona.edu.