The College announced yesterday that New York City-based curator Kim Conaty will serve as the Hood Museum of Art’s eighth director.
The museum’s previous director, John Stomberg, retired in early August. He was originally set to retire in June, according to a College announcement in October 2025. He told The Dartmouth in July that he extended his term to “ensure a smooth transition” for vice provost Barbara Will, who began serving as interim director on Aug. 3 and will continue until Conaty assumes her role in October.
Conaty, who specializes in modern and contemporary art with a focus on drawings and prints, previously worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and was the curator of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University from 2015 to 2017. She is currently the Whitney Museum of American Art’s chief curator, according to the press release.
“I am a firm believer that academic museums have the power to create transformative experiences, whether a student is going on to study art history, or simply to have art and culture as part of their lives,” Conaty told Dartmouth News.
She “brings the knowledge and experience needed to lead the Hood Museum in developing its next strategic plan and continuing to shape its identity as a center for original scholarship and rich student and community engagement,” provost Santiago Schnell said in a press release provided to The Dartmouth.
Associate dean of arts and humanities Colleen Boggs led the search committee, which also consisted of Hopkins Center for the Arts executive director Mary Lou Aleskie; ancient Greek history professor and classic department chair Paul Christesen; art history and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies professor Mary Coffey; anthropology department chair Nathaniel Dominy; Hood Museum senior curator of academic programming Amelia Kahl ’01; Hood Museum board of advisors member Brooke Minto ’01; advancement for centers, institutes and special projects assistant vice president Kate Norton ’01; member of Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees Jane Novak ’92; Hood Museum finance director Ramie Speicher; studio art department chair Tricia Treacy; and Hood Museum board and directors chair Steven Tseng ’95, Tu ’01. The search was assisted by the firm Isaacson, Miller.
Iris WeaverBell ’28 is a reporter and editor. She is from Portland, Ore., and is majoring in economics and minoring in public policy.
