Asian Art Consultant Joins Ringling Museum Team
SARASOTA, Fla. – May 21, 2007 – The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art today announced the hiring of Amy G. Poster, independent Curator and Consultant for Strategic Planning in Museums. She will advise the Museum and its collections for the future of the Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt Asian Galleries.
In January 2005 Florida Asian Art Collector Dr. Wall-Apelt primed the Museum for expansion with an estimated $50 million combined pledge of endowment and expansion funding and her growing collection of Asian works. Wall-Apelt’s generous gift kick started a focus on the Ringling Museum’s Asian collections in preparation for the expansion.
“Amy Poster, longtime curator of Asian Art, Brooklyn Museum, will be an important asset to Sarasota, Florida,” Dr. Wall-Apelt said. “With her knowledge and passion for the arts of Asia she is going to play a major role in making the Asian Galleries at Ringling Museum a reality."
“Ms. Poster’s involvement will attract new attention to the Ringling Museum of Art and the arts of Asia,” said Executive Director Dr. John Wetenhall.
Poster will initiate a collection assessment and develop a strategic plan for the Asian Art collections. She will also develop several exhibitions to feature the Wall-Apelt and Ringling Asian holdings.
Poster is a recognized expert in the fields of Asian Art and Museum studies. She has a 35-year affiliation with the Brooklyn Museum’s Asian Art department and most recently was named Lisa and Bernard Selz Curator of Asian Art and Chair. She is now the Curator Emeritus of Asian Art at the Brooklyn Museum. She is a published specialist, lectures widely and leads tours throughout India and Asia for the Brooklyn Museum’s Asian Art Council. She has taught Museum Studies at New York University and aspects of South Asian art at the Bard Graduate Center in Decorative Arts.
Poster presently serves on several art advisory committees including the Japan Society and the Clark Institute for Japanese Art in Hanford, Cal. She continues to work with young curators and students preparing for museum careers.
The involvement of a world-renowned consultant was part of Dr. Wall-Apelt’s gift. The multi-tiered pledge included her collection of Asian works and $4 million for expansion and $4 million for the Ringling endowment to support an Asian curatorial position. The combined gift was the largest received by the Ringling Museum and the largest single gift to Florida State University.
The Ringling Museum’s Asian holdings already included the Koger Collection of Chinese Ceramics, acquired in 2002 from Jacksonville residents Ira and Nancy Koger.
Plans for the Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt Asian Art Wing are in the conceptual phase and will be finalized in the coming year.