Oberlin College's Dr. Stephen Borys Appointed Ringling Museum Curator of Collections
SARASOTA, Fla. -- (Feb. 13, 2006) -- The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art announced today that The Florida State University (FSU) Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Dr. Stephen D. Borys as Curator of Collections at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art effective March 1. Borys was Curator of Western Art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, where he also taught in the Art History Department and was editor of the AMAM Bulletin.
Prior to his 2001 arrival in Oberlin, Borys was a curator in the Department of European and American Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and has also worked in the Prints and Drawings Department at the Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal.
“This is a very exciting time to be coming to the Ringling Museum, especially with the current building/restoration campaigns as well as the wonderful gifts to the collection and foundation,” Borys said. “My work as a curator at the National Gallery of Canada and at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, has, I believe, prepared me well for the post of Curator of Collections at the Ringling.”
Borys has organized several exhibitions and written accompanying catalogues and articles, lecturing nationwide. His most recent exhibitions and publications include: The Splendor of Ruins in French Landscape Painting, 1630-1800; Trace Elements: New Work at Oberlin; Going Modern at the Allen: American Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1980; European Master Drawings from the AMAM; The Changing Land: Modern British Landscape Painting; Giuseppe Maria Crespi: The Art of Allegory; and Impressionist Masterworks from the National Gallery of Canada.
The recipient of several exhibition and research grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Ohio Humanities Council, Borys is a fellow of the Getty Leadership Institute, Los Angeles, and the Royal Collections Studies Program, Windsor, and is a member of various national and international museum and academic associations. He holds a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from McGill University, Montréal, a M.A. in Art History from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. with Honors from the University of Winnipeg.
“Dr. Borys bring to the Ringling Museum a rich and distinguished record of scholarly accomplishment, as well as experience at a major national art museum and one of the country's finest college museums. His expertise in Old Master paintings perfectly suits our collection’s current strengths and future needs,” said Dr. John Wetenhall, the Ringling Museum’s Executive Director.
Borys echoed Wetenhall’s sentiment, “My first goal is to focus on the collection and the visitor experience in the galleries. As a curator, I hope to augment and enrich every person’s visit to the museum, helping them see and understand more, enjoy more, and persuading them to return again and again. As an art historian, I would like to build upon the Ringling’s important role as the nation’s largest university museum complex, strengthening relationships with cultural and academic institutions across the country and abroad.”