Hunter College announced that it has named Harper Montgomery, a leading expert in Latin American art, as the Susan and David Bershad Professor of Art History and the director of the Hunter College Art Galleries. In the dual post, Montgomery will lead Hunter’s certificate program in Advanced Curatorial Studies, which provides professional training to students planning to work in museums and galleries.
For more than 25 years, the Hunter galleries have enabled students to work closely with private and public collections, prominent international curators, outside scholars, working artists, and in partnerships with leading New York institutions such as the Robert Rauschenberg and Hans Hofmann Foundations. Many exhibitions grow from the department’s Advanced Curatorial Certificate seminars, in which students and faculty work together from concept to final installation and publication.
In keeping with its vision of becoming the public school of the arts, Hunter College maintains three galleries:
- The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery on Hunter’s main campus, which focuses on often under-represented artists and art movements and hosts the BFA degree exhibition each semester.
- The 205 Hudson Gallery, in Tribeca on Hunter’s MFA Studio Art Campus, presents exhibitions and programming on critical issues in contemporary art and hosts the MFA thesis exhibitions.
- The Hunter East Harlem Gallery at the Silberman School of Social Work at 119th St. and Third Avenue, features exhibits and projects connected to the East Harlem community.
Montgomery, formerly the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Distinguished Lecturer in Latin American Art at Hunter, succeeds Joachim Pissarro, who is retiring.
“Under Harper Montgomery’s leadership, the important and unique mission of the Hunter galleries will no doubt flourish,” said Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab. “We thank Joachim Pissarro for his inspirational teaching, mentoring of students, and the many exciting exhibitions he has mounted during his long tenure.”
The Bershad Professorship was endowed by a generous gift from Hunter College Trustee Dr. Susan Bershad ’75 and David Bershad. Dr. Bershad, a dermatologist and associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, has served on the Board of Trustees of the Hunter College Foundation since 2004 and is a past chair of the Nominating Committee.
She was inducted into Hunter’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
