The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis has appointed Kristina Van Dyke as its new director. She will assume the post on Nov. 7. Since 2005, she has been at the Menil Collection in Houston, serving as curator for collections and research since 2009. In 2010, Van Dyke was a fellow at the Center for Curatorial Leadership.
She succeeds German art historian Matthias Waschek, who resigned in January after seven years as the foundation’s head.
Van Dyke joins the Pulitzer as it finalizes its programming for its 10th anniversary season, which will include “Reflections of the Buddha,” a loan exhibition of Buddhist sculptures and hanging scrolls, on view Sept. 9, 2011–Mar. 10, 2012, and a show guest-curated by artist Gedi Sibony for spring 2012.
Among the exhibitions she organized for the Menil are “Insistent Objects: David Levinthal’s Blackface” and “Chance Encounters: the Formation of the de Menils’ African Collection.” She oversaw the reinstallation of the Pacific Islands and African galleries and published a catalogue, African Art from the Menil Collection.
Van Dyke received her MA from Williams College and her PhD from Harvard University, where her dissertation explored the nature of representation in the oral cultures of Mali.
