Karol Wight is leaving her position at the Getty to take the reins at The Corning Museum. courtesy: the corning museum of glass
After 12 years as executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass, David Whitehouse is stepping down (though he will remain a senior scholar at the museum) and the top curatorial position at the world’s leading museum dedicated to glass will be taken over by Karol Wight, head of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum‘s Getty Villa in Malibu, California. Wight is a well-known specialist in Roman glass, and will be leaving her position at the J. Paul Getty Museum’s educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria for the new position in Corning, New York. Wight is author of the just-published book Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011), and co-author of two other books on ancient glass. She will officially take over at Corning on August 15th.
At Corning, Wight will oversee a 45,000-object collection as well as its studio, library, programming, and publications. Whitehouse will continue his research in his new position of senior scholar at Corning. The two collaborated in 2007 as co-curators of the major exhibition “Reflecting Antiquity: Modern Glass Inspired by Ancient Rome,” which was presented at the Corning Museum and the Getty Villa. Wight will be joining a management team led by president Marie McKee, who will continue to oversee Museum administration and help to define institutional strategy.
“As one of the foremost experts in the field, Karol brings experienced leadership, a keen curatorial eye, and deep knowledge of the artistry and history of glass to her new position,” McKee says in a prepared statement. “We have been working with Karol over the past few months to plan this transition, and we are confident that she will build on the strong foundation of David’s remarkable legacy as the Museum looks ahead to a period of growth.”
In her 26-year tenure at the Getty, Wight, 52, grew from a graduate intern to become the senior curator of antiquities at the Getty Villa. Wight helped oversee a $275 million renovation, expansion, and reinstallation at the Villa and was instrumental in helping to create a revised acquisitions policy to ensure responsible collections development for antiquities at the Getty Museum. She has taken a key role in facilitating a successful restitution program with Italy that encompasses cultural exchanges of works of art, exhibition development, conferences, and conservation projects. She received her Ph.D. from the art history department at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a member of several international associations for the study of glass.
“I have been studying the ancient Roman glass collections at the Corning Museum since I began my dissertation research in the late 1980s, and have known the talented staff there for years,” Wight said in a prepared statement. “I was drawn to this position not only because of the Museum’s exceptional collections, but also because of its innovative public programs, on site and in the field, that help bring the art of glass to life. The Museum has created a truly dynamic and engaging experience for visitors, and I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues to continue sharing the wonders of glass with the world. After the Getty, Corning has always been my second museum home.”
During his 27 years at Corning, Whitehouse has contributed to significant institutional advancement, growing its collections by more than 40 percent and leading a renovation and expansion, completed in 2000. In his role as curator of ancient and Islamic glass, he has published 15 volumes and organized nine exhibitions. Under his leadership, the museum established The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass, one of the finest glassmaking schools in the world. Whitehouse joined the Museum in 1984 as chief curator, was named deputy director of collections in 1987, was promoted to deputy director in 1988, and became director in 1992. He was appointed to his current position as executive director in 1999.