The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, has announced that Carolyn Swan Needell, P.h.D., will be the new Carolyn and Richard Barry Curator of Glass, assuming the position on April 2, 2018. In September 2017, Chrysler Museum of Art’s previous curator, Diane Wright, announced her departure to take on the role of curator of glass at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. The Chrysler holds one of the largest glass art collections in the world with more than 10,000 objects spanning 3,000 years. The core of its collection comes from its namesake, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., who donated thousands of objects from his private collection to the Museum. With Swan Needell’s 15 years of experience in the study of glass, she hopes to engage audiences of all interests and backgrounds.
A specialist in ancient art, Swan Needell has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, master degrees from the University of Leicester and University College London and a doctorate from Brown University. Additionally, she holds glassblowing and casting experience that complement the Chrysler Museum’s Perry Glass Studio and further her understanding of the possibilities of glass.
Chrysler Museum Director Erik Neil says that Swan Needell’s background in ancient, Islamic, and modern glass will “allow the Museum to continue to connect with audiences in innovative and insightful ways.” Recently, Swan Needell completed a fellowship at University College London about Qatar on glass in the medieval Middle East, which was the topic of her dissertation at Brown University. She's worked at museums at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the Rhode Island School of Design along with a history of national and international lectures in Abu Dhabi, London, and Warsaw. With her teaching experience at Brown University, Colby College, and University of Maine at Orono, Swan Needell brings her unique expertise to the Museum.
In a prepared statement, Swan Needell said that she is eager to “bring objects to life in a meaningful, creative way that engages with the public and supports their exploration of the fascinating nature and history of glass.”