The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art has hired a new curator: Jane Burke.
After a nationwide search, the museum selected Burke to oversee its growing exhibition program. She began in the new role on November 14th.
“I am honored to join the team at BMoCA in this capacity to help take the institution’s community-focused mission into its next ambitious, groundbreaking phase,” said Burke. “I look forward to tapping into BMoCA’s existing network and expanding its reach locally, nationally and internationally. BMoCA provides the ideal opportunity to foster deep and authentic connections between artists and audiences, while fueling voices that are being heard in a broader, global conversation.”
Burke comes to the museum from the Denver Art Museum, where she served as a curatorial associate in the Textile Arts and Fashion Department.
She spent eight years at DAM, where she co-organized many multimedia exhibitions and co-authored catalogs in collaboration with fashion historian and curator Florence Müller. Some of the exhibitions she has helped organize are Shock Wave: Japanese Fashion Design 1980s-90s, Drawn to Glamour: Fashion Illustrations by Jim Howard, Dior: From Paris to the World, and Carla Fernández Casa de Moda : A Mexican Fashion Manifesto.”
Prior to working at DAM, Burke began her museum career at the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Contemporary Museum, and the East West Center Gallery. She has also curated guest exhibitions of contemporary art for the Artworks Center for Contemporary Art, RULE Gallery, and the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology.
Burke earned a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s degree in Asian Art History and Mandarin from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Denver.
At BMoCA, she will help coordinate the museum’s more than 20 annual exhibitions at eight locations in the Denver metropolitan area. The museum celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and serves an estimated 140,000 people each year. Burke replaces former BMoCA curator Pamela Meadows, who is now director and curator of the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.
“I am delighted to welcome Burke to the BMoCA team,” said David Dadone, Executive Director and Chief Curator of BMoCA. “Her extensive experience in both contemporary and encyclopedic museums will be an asset to the BMoCA during this important period of growth for our institution. Burke brings expertise that will support and expand BMoCA’s commitment to amplifying the voices of contemporary artists in accessible exhibitions that encourage dialogue on topical issues. Her community-focused curatorial approach will advance BMoCA’s mission to inspire creativity and empower community through contemporary art.”
