Picture of Tianlong Jiao, Rebecca R. Hart, and Florence Müller, all new curators at the Denver Art Museum 2015

Announcing 3 New Curators at the DAM

The Denver Art Museum recently announced that three curators joined the museum. Below is a brief introduction. Stay tuned for more information and opportunities to get to know them and their growing art collections.

Dr. Tianlong Jiao, Joseph de Heer Curator of Asian Art

Tianlong Jiao - Joseph de Heer Curator of Asian Art

It is my great honor to join the Denver Art Museum!

— Dr. Tianlong Jiao

With more than 10 years of museum experience in a leadership role, Tianlong will join the DAM in September from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco where he served as the department head and curator of Chinese art. Tianlong will oversee the museum’s Asian art collection, which includes objects from China, India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Tibet and Nepal. Over the past decade, Tianlong has curated six international traveling exhibitions presenting jades, sculptures, textiles, photography, painting, maps and ceramics from China and the Pacific Rim. Holding a Ph.D. in Archaeology from Harvard University, a Master of Arts degree from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Beijing University, Tianlong has built his career on presenting the stories behind objects, and the seamless connection between art and artifact.

With an impressive collection of both ancient and contemporary arts across Asia, the Denver Art Museum has a great history in presenting Asia’s arts and cultures. I am very excited to join this dynamic institution and look forward to contributing to its future programs.

— Dr. Tianlong Jiao

Rebecca R. Hart, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

Rebecca R Hart Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

Photo of Rebecca R. Hart, courtesy of the Denver Art Museum and Lisa Spindler Photography.

I immediately sensed a kinship with the people of Denver who engage in arts and culture with a sense of curiosity and adventure.

— Rebecca R. Hart

Hart served for the last 10 years as the curator of contemporary art at The Detroit Institute of Arts. Hart will oversee the DAM’s broad modern and contemporary art collection. She joins the department’s Curator of Modern Art, Gwen Chanzit. Many foundations have recognized Hart’s work and she has been awarded numerous grants. Mostly recently, she received grants for The Detroit Institute of Arts' Shirin Neshat exhibition from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, MetLife Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

Having lived in the Miami area and Detroit, with work experience in Oaxaca, Mexico, I am particularly interested in partnering with the Hispanic community. It will be an honor to develop exhibitions and a program of acquisitions that resonate with the rich heritage of Colorado. Perhaps it goes without saying that the dynamic spirit at DAM captivated me: the ambitious vision, an amazing collection with such international acclaim and innovative programs created by an engaged staff—all within eyesight of the high plains and Rockies.

— Rebecca R. Hart

Florence Müller, Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art, Curator of Fashion

Florence Müller, Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art, Curator of Fashion

I am very pleased to work at the wonderful DAM, one of the major encyclopedic museums in the U.S. with an ambitious program.

— Florence Müller

Müller’s extensive experience with museums and collections in France and as an independent curator has led to the curation and contribution to more than 100 exhibitions worldwide, including the 2012 Yves Saint Laurent: The Retrospective exhibition for which the DAM was the exclusive U.S. venue. Müller will oversee the textile art collection, and will develop a strategic approach to expanding the current holdings to include costume and fashion of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

This museum is served by leading architectural signatures and the most wonderful human and professional group of contributors. It's a perfect chance to express how textile and fashion are essential actors of our contemporary culture and for further understanding the history of civilizations.

— Florence Müller