AKRON, OH — The Akron Art Museum appointed Jared Ledesma as Senior Curator and promoted Jeffrey Katzin to Assistant Curator on June 11, 2021.
Ledesma will start working at the Museum on July 12, 2021. While his assistant, Katzin will start his new role soon after further notification.
Through this appointment, as a Latinx, Ledesma will be the first person of color in the curatorial department at the museum. Now he is working as an Associate Curator at the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
Ledesma is known for his commitment to supporting modern and contemporary artists from marginalized communities.
The selection committee of the Akron Art Museum decided to select Ledesma as Senior Curator as they were impressed by Ledesma's dedication to diversifying collections and accessible interpretation.
One of the reasons why the museum was attracted to him is because of his motivation to transform museums from exclusive to inclusive spaces. His motivation informs a curatorial vision supporting artists of all backgrounds and will help shape the Museum’s exhibition schedule in the future.
Commenting on Ledesma's dedication and his personal background as beneficial to the museum, Akron Art Museum Interim Executive Director Jon Fiume said, "We heard clearly from our staff and patrons that diversifying the collection would be an important way for the Museum to remain an integral part of people’s lives. Jared not only brings stellar academic and work experience, but his personal background will help him better understand the community, and that will be reflected in the Museum’s growing collection.”
Meanwhile, the promotion of Jeffrey Katzin to Assistant Curator is to recognize his accomplishments during his term of office. Katzin has made significant contributions to the Museum by bringing Tune In to Akron, co-curating Akron Art Mail and curating the upcoming exhibition Afterimages: Geometric Abstraction and Perception.
His main contribution to the museum was when he curated the tandem exhibitions currently on view in the Museum’s galleries, Totally Rad: Bold Color in the 1980s and Totally Radical: Art and Politics in the 1980s.
Katzin is now pursuing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania with a dissertation project on abstract photography.