Natalia Ángeles Vieyra (PhD '21) Appointed First Associate Curator of Latinx Art at National Gallery of Art
Art History alum Natalia Ángeles Vieyra (PhD '21) has joined the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in the newly created role of Associate Curator of Latinx Art.
This position originated as part of the Advancing Latinx Art in Museums initiative, with the support of the Mellon, Fort, Getty, and Terra Foundations.
“This transformative program has provided the support for the creation of several new curatorial positions specializing in Latinx art across the United States and Puerto Rico, including my new role at the National Gallery of Art,” Vieyra, who is Mexican American, said.
Vieyra says her top priorities as associate curator include building on the National Gallery’s collection of Latinx art, exhibition programming, and community outreach.
As a student at Tyler, where she completed both her master's and PhD in Art History, Vieyra had some of her first “close encounters” with art in the study room of the Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“These experiences led me to seek out a career path where I would be able to work directly with art objects, and of course with prints, which is such an important medium for so many Latinx artists.”
She also said her experiences collaborating with fellow Latinx artists while at Tyler helped send her on the path that led her to this new venture.
“At Tyler, I had the incredible opportunity to work in close proximity to amazing Latinx artists like faculty members Roberto Lugo and Pepón Osorio, and Tyler alums like Allan Edmunds, who founded the Brandywine Workshop and Archives, which was a formative space for many Latinx artists.”
The National Gallery’s collection includes works by significant Latinx artists such as Ana Mendieta, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rupert García, Carmen Herrera, and Martine Gutierrez. Vieyra will work to expand, study, and interpret this evolving collection and will collaborate with other curatorial departments to integrate Latinx art and perspectives within the museum’s overall program.