What makes an academic art museum unique? How has the concept of it changed over time, and what are its potential futures? To commemorate five decades of student engagement at the Smart Museum of Art, this panel brings together its alumni – former interns, docents, student employees, and student researchers and presenters – to discuss the impact of their experience on their careers and their vision for the future of our institutions. Free, register online here.

Speakers:

H. Rafael Chacón, Ph.D., Bruce and Suzanne Crocker Director, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, University of Montana

Hipólito Rafael Chacón is director of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and Professor of
Art History and Criticism in the School of Visual and Media Arts at the University of Montana-
Missoula. He is a graduate of Wabash College (1985) and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in
art history with honors from the University of Chicago (1987 & 1995). Chacón teaches a range of
courses in art history and criticism. His research lies in American architectural history, historic
preservation, and Montana history. Since 2014, he has lectured for the Smithsonian Institute’s
Journeys program and has been frequently named to the top ten lecturers.
He has received the highest awards for research in vexillology at national and international
conferences (Whitney Smith Award, International Federation of Vexillological Associations
Congress, 2019, and Captain William Driver Award, North American Vexillological Association
Conference, 2016). In 2019, he was appointed Suzanne and Bruce Crocker Distinguished
Director at the MMAC. He spearheaded the construction of a state-of-the-art building, the first
permanent home in 130 years, for Montana’s largest and deepest art collection.

Erica Moiah James, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art History, University of Miami

Erica Moiah James is an Art Historian, Curator and Associate Professor at The University
of Miami. Before arriving in Miami, she was the founding director and chief curator of the
National Gallery of The Bahamas and an Assistant professor at Yale University. Her
research centers on indigenous, modern, and contemporary art of the Caribbean, Americas,
and the African Diaspora. She has received awards and foundation support for her work
from the Warhol Foundation/Creative Time, The Mellon and Terra Foundations and was
the 2023-24 Clark- Oakley Fellow at The Clark Art Institute and Williams College. In 2022
she curated Didier William: nou kite tout sa dèyè for the Museum of Contemporary Art,
North Miami, and Nari Ward: Home of the Brave for the Vilcek Foundation, NY. Her
forthcoming book is entitled After Caliban: Caribbean Art in the Global Imaginary with Duke
UP.

Caitlin Julia Rubin, Ph.D., Interim Curator of Exhibitions, Harvard Radcliffe Institute

Caitlin Julia Rubin (BA ‘09) is a curator and writer. She is currently Interim Curator of Exhibitions at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and previously held the role of Associate Curator & Director of Programs at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. Within this position and in prior years at the Rose, she organized and co-organized projects by Mark Dion, Rosalyn Drexler, Jennie C. Jones, Tuesday Smillie, and Caroline Woolard, among others; curated numerous collection-focused presentations; and contributed to and produced both museum and artist publications. With Lauren Haynes, she co-curated the exhibition Lyle Ashton Harris: Our first and last love, which debuted at the Rose Art Museum in February 2023 and traveled to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The third and final presentation recently closed at the Queens Museum, New York, where it was highlighted as a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Rubin received her undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Chicago and her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Aileen June Wang, Ph.D., Curator, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University

Aileen June Wang received her MA and PhD degrees in art history from Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, and she received a BA with honors from the University of Chicago with a major in art history in 1993. Before becoming a curator, she worked in New York as a professor in art history and as a client advisor for an international fine art auction house. Her curatorial interests have evolved towards a socially engaged curatorial practice, with research manifesting not only in the form of text but also design, collaboration, and community engagement. Her exhibition catalog, Gordon Parks: "Homeward to the Prairie I Come," is the first open-access digital publication on the artist, made possible by major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gordon Parks Foundation. Download the book here: https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/45/

ABOUT SMART SALONS. Smart Salons is an interdisciplinary conversation series that fosters dialogue between UChicago students, faculty, staff, and the South Side community at the intersections of art and culture. From close-looking in the galleries to panel discussions, artists, researchers, scholars, and practitioners are invited to help us think and reflect expansively about art, ideas, and stories that matter today.

Image: (L - R) Caitlin Rubin, Aileen June Wang, H. Rafael Chacón, Erica Moiah James