Powerhouse Arts, a nonprofit creative production center in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood, announced that curator Liz Munsell to the role of vice president of curatorial and arts programs. Munzell will replace Diya Vij, who was recently appointed as the commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City.
In her role, Munsell will work on expanding Powerhouse’s annual exhibitions and public programming, as well as overseeing its artist residency and subsidy initiatives and the art fairs that are held at Powerhouse, like Conductor, which will open its next edition in April.
“Having dedicated my career to traditional museums with extraordinary collections and weighty histories, I was drawn to the opportunity to rethink how institutions support artists,” Munsell said in a statement. “Powerhouse Arts provides an environment of deep material, technical, and community resources that aligns closely with my artist and audience-centered curatorial practice.”
Powerhouse Arts also announced the hiring of Constanza Valenzuela as associate curator, who will help Munsell realize the organization’s forthcoming slate of exhibitions. Valenzuela was most recently assistant curator at High Line Art.
Munsell added, “Building a new exhibitions program at Powerhouse Arts offers an opportunity to reveal the incredible network of production, experimentation, and collaboration unfolding here every day.”
Munsell was most recently a curator of contemporary art at the Jewish Museum in New York. Prior to that role, she worked in various curatorial roles at the Museum of Fine, Boston, for over 12 years, rising to the title of curator of contemporary art.
Over the course of her career, she has organized exhibitions for artists like Joan Semmel, Joan Jonas, Cecilia Vicuña, Jeffrey Gibson, Pablo Helguera, Bouchra Khalili, and Pedro Reyes, as well as the MFA Boston’s 2020–21 exhibition “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation,” which she co-organized with Greg Tate.
In 2021, Munsell cofounded Museums Moving Forward, an organization aimed at producing research on the museum sector in order to make it more equitable and that is expected to sunset in 2030.
“I’m excited to help build an institution that embodies the values of diversity, accessibility, and inclusion that many of us have been working toward,” Munsell said of her new role at Powerhouse Arts.
“Liz brings a valuable combination of curatorial rigor, institutional insight, and a deep commitment to artists,” Powerhouse Arts president Eric Shiner said in a statement. “Her leadership will help us further model what an arts institution can be in the twenty-first century, with a focus on artistic production, collaboration, and community.”
