Beckwith Lecture with Jen Mergel September 27, 2010

Join us for an evening with Jen Mergel, the Robert L. Beal, Enid L. Beal and Bruce A. Beal Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), as she delivers the lecture “Message Received? How Contemporary Art Can Communicate—and Connect.”

Mergel joined the MFA in February 2010 and curated the upcoming show “Kristin Baker: New Paintings,” the first in an annual exhibition series focused on internationally renowned SMFA graduates of the past decade. Prior to joining the MFA, she was associate curator at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) where she organized a number of exhibitions, including “Tara Donovan,” “Momentum 13: Eileen Quinlan” and, currently on view, “Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork.”

Mergel served in various curatorial capacities for the 2004 Whitney Biennial, the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, and at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, where she presented exhibitions as the curatorial fellow. She has authored essays in numerous publications; has been a guest lecturer, curator and juror at cultural institutions in the United States and has reviewed contemporary art programming in France and Taiwan.

Established in 1978 by Leo and Betty Beckwith (daughter Carol is an alumna), the Beckwith series was created to further student development by featuring artists and cultural thinkers of national and international stature.

Image: Copyright Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Official Website: http://www.smfa.edu