Jacqueline O'Regan has been named Johns Hopkins' first
curator of cultural properties, a
position that will address ways in which the university
collects and manages its extensive cultural
resources. The appointment is a major part of the
university's recent efforts to raise the profile of
the arts for the Johns Hopkins and Baltimore
communities.
O'Regan will be responsible for objects that range
widely from fine art and furniture to
historical teaching equipment, photographs, architecture,
sculpture and the collections of
Homewood
Museum and Evergreen
Museum & Library. O'Regan has been curator of Evergreen
since 2000.
"Jackie O'Regan's diverse background, technical
expertise and passion for art are an excellent
match for the demands of this new position," said Winston
Tabb, director of the Johns Hopkins
University Museums as well as Sheridan Dean of University
Libraries and vice provost for the arts.
"She will play a key part in increasing the visibility of
the university's outstanding collections of art
and cultural artifacts and in ensuring that they are looked
after properly so that future generations
will be able to access them."
In her new role at Johns Hopkins, O'Regan will develop
ways in which to strengthen and promote
these collections so that they may be used by students,
faculty, staff and the wider community,
whether for research, teaching, conversation or
enjoyment.
The curator of cultural properties will be located
organizationally in the Sheridan Libraries'
Special Collections Department.
Before coming to Evergreen Museum & Library, O'Regan
was at the Baltimore Museum of Art,
where she worked as a conservation technician, conservation
assistant and finally as assistant
conservator. She graduated from the University of
California, Berkeley, and holds a master of fine
arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art's
Hoffberger School of Painting.
James Archer Abbott will succeed O'Regan as curator of
Evergreen Museum & Library, where
he will oversee the display and continued development of
Evergreen's art collections, organize
exhibitions and manage the historic house museum's
preservation efforts.
Evergreen's permanent collection consists of more than
20,000 works of art assembled by
Baltimore's Garrett family, including post-Impressionist
paintings, masterworks of decorative art,
Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquerware and one of the
largest collections of Tiffany glass in private
hands.
"For a university museum with high standards for
excellence like ours, Jim Abbott's experience,
breadth of interest and record of scholarly publication
made him the ideal candidate to succeed Ms.
O'Regan," Tabb said. "He will undoubtedly contribute
significantly to the future interpretation of its
collections and most importantly will establish closer ties
between Evergreen and Johns Hopkins'
academic programs."
Most recently, Abbott was curator at the Woodrow
Wilson House, a National Historic Landmark
and house museum in Washington, D.C. Previously he worked
as an adjunct professor at the Corcoran
College of Art, curator of decorative arts at the Baltimore
Museum of Art, curator and coordinator of
education for Boscobel Restoration in Garrison-on-Hudson,
N.Y., and assistant curator at Historic
Hudson Valley in Tarrytown, N.Y. Abbott graduated from
Vassar College and holds a master's degree in
museum studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
About his future work, Abbott said, "Evergreen Museum
& Library is a wonderful compilation of
fine and decorative arts, rich in its layering and
importance. I look forward to adding to the museum's
recognized efforts to share its collections with a variety
of audiences, as well as in having them serve
as backdrop and inspiration for new explorations in the
arts."
Abbott and O'Regan will assume their new positions in
November.
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