MINNEAPOLIS—August 22, 2018—The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), one of the nation’s leading encyclopedic art museums, today announced the appointment of Casey Riley, PhD, as curator and head of the Department of Photography and New Media. A specialist in the history of photography as well as the visual and material culture of the 19th century, Riley will oversee the scholarship, display, and preservation of more than 14,000 photographs and works of new media that comprise the museum’s collection.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Riley join the curatorial team at Mia. Her particular interest in gender studies and the work of women photographers is a welcome new direction for the department,” said Kaywin Feldman, Mia’s Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President. “In addition, Dr. Riley’s strong experience in education and interpretation aligns with the museum’s mission and strategic plan to make our wonderful collections accessible and relevant to the broadest possible spectrum of visitors.”

Riley joins Mia from the Boston Athenaeum, where she spearheaded a range of curatorial initiatives designed to bring new prominence to the library’s remarkable collections. She is presently working on a special exhibition, “Collecting Power,” in partnership with the Athenaeum’s Head of Special Collections, Dr. John Buchtel, as well as the Chipstone Foundation of Milwaukee, opening at the Boston Athenaeum in 2019. Riley also serves as a consulting curator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, with several exhibitions to her credit, including “Isabella’s Relics” (2018) and “Henry James & American Painting (2017),” co-curated with Dr. Christina Nielsen and organized in conjunction with the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.

Riley completed her doctorate at Boston University in 2015. She also holds a master’s degree from Middlebury College, a master’s of arts in teaching from Brown University, and bachelor of arts from Yale. She is a co-author of the Gardner Museum’s new guidebook, published by Yale University Press (2017), and the forthcoming exhibition catalogue Sargent on Location: Gardner’s First Artist-in-Residence (2018).

“In addition to her excellent scholarship, Dr. Riley is in the vanguard of museum practice,” said Matthew Welch, PhD, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at Mia. “She was selected to participate in The Networked Curator, a digital humanities workshop sponsored by the Association for Art Museum Curators, the Getty Foundation, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, as well as MASS Action (Museums as Sites for Social Action), an art museum collaborative devoted to making museum practice more equitable and inclusive.”

Riley’s first day in her new role will be September 10.