GARY BARRAGAN
The Joan Mitchell Foundation in New York has added Miranda Lash, who currently works as curator of contemporary art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to its board of directors. She will serve a three-year term.
Before beginning her tenure at the Speed, Lash was the founding curator of modern and contemporary art at the New Orleans Museum of Art. In that role, she worked with the Joan Mitchell Foundation in organizing the 2014 retrospective “Mel Chin: Rematch.” Some of her other curatorial credits at NOMA include “Rashaad Newsome: King of Arms” (2013), “Katie Holten: Drawn to the Edge” (2012), and “Wayne Gonzales: Light to Dark, Dark to Light” (2011).
Her exhibitions at the Speed include “Keltie Ferris: *O*P*E*N*” (2018–19) and “Bruce Conner: Forever and Ever” (2017–18), and she collaborated with the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University on the production of the show “Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art,” which opened in 2016. Lash was also a member of the artistic director’s council for Prospect 4 in New Orleans.
Members of the board of directors include president Michele Tortorelli; vice-president Ron Bechet; treasurer Sandy S. Lee; secretary Jean Shin; artist Tomie Arai; Ted Berger, executive director of NYCreates; Kemi Ilesamni, executive director of the Laundromat Project; artist Juan Sánchez; and Linda Usdin, president of Swamplily, LLC.
Lash said in a statement, “It is inspiring to join an organization that is known throughout this country for providing much-needed support to artists. I have admired the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s approach for years, from its commitment to providing unrestricted grants, to its commitment to ensuring diversity in the range of artists with which it engages. I look forward to working with the foundation on its ongoing mission of putting artists first and encouraging the scholarly discourse around Mitchell’s work to flourish.”
Tortorelli said of Lash, “Given the wide range of exhibitions she has curated, her artist- centered approach, and her experience in New Orleans—where the Joan Mitchell Center is located—we expect she will add a valuable perspective to the Foundation’s work supporting artists at various stages in their careers. As a curator, she will be a valued voice at the table in our work on stewarding Mitchell’s legacy.”