Segal Gallery Welcomes New Director
Megan C Austin has been appointed Director of University Galleries
Posted in: University Galleries News
Megan C. Austin has joined Montclair State as the new director of the University Galleries. She comes to the university with significant experience in academic museums, most recently as the director and curator of the Barrett Art Gallery at Utica College and earlier as the associate director of the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. At both, she developed new educational opportunities and innovative programs by integrating the arts into the fabric of the institutions across a range of audiences, disciplines, and issues.
Meg received her M. A. in Museum Studies from Syracuse University and her B. A. in English from Utica College of Syracuse University. She has presented at the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, spearheaded Ashoka U Changemaker initiatives, and organized over 100 exhibitions and programs throughout her career. Her curatorial work explores the interdisciplinary intersection of contemporary art and our sociopolitical landscape and includes the recent solo exhibitions Impact! Works by Jon Bellona (2019), Graham Wilson’s dam’ nāshen (2019), Mona Brody: The Whisper of Silence (2018), and Carbon Impermanence: Works by David Bonagurio (2018). More recently, she lectured at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and she will curate a solo exhibition at one of the New York City art fairs during Armory Week 2020.
“I look forward to learning more about MSU and what role the visual arts play in the academic and cultural communities on campus and beyond,” Meg has commented. “As an academic museum professional, I value the opportunity to create spaces of intellectual curiosity and find new opportunities to bring the visual arts into greater, and often unexpected, dialogues.”
As part of the 2020 New York Edition of SPRING/BREAK, and in support of the Australian Red Cross for Bushfire Relief and Integrated Arts of Eugene, Oregon, Meg and two Montclair Students will be producing a sound art installation: WILDFIRE.