The Visual Arts Administration masters program at New York University has announced the appointment of Melissa Rachleff Burtt as clinical associate professor. The appointment is effective January 1, 2009. Rachleff Burtt previously served as program officer at the New York State Council on the Arts Museum Program and taught in the art, design history, and theory department and communication design technology programs at Parsons The New School for Design.
Melissa Rachleff Burtt will bring to the Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program extensive knowledge of non-profit management, strategic planning and governance in the visual arts, as well as programmatic and curatorial experience. Adding her to our full time faculty will enhance the strengths of the program and enable us to continue to offer an in-depth layered curriculum, said Sandra Lang, director and clinical associate professor of the Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program.
Rachleff Burtt was a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem through a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities where she researched photojournalism in black newspapers in New York in the 1930s and 1940s. Her research was published in the Smithsonian Institution Press book Visual Journal. Rachleff Burtt began her career as a curator at Exit Art and also worked as manager of adult programs at The Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of the City of New York.
Our students support and nurture art and artists, working as fundraisers, marketers, curators, museum directors, educators, and cultural entrepreneurs all over the world, said Carlo Lamagna, senior faculty in the Visual Arts Administration masters program. They are the future leaders and agents of change who will advocate for art as a public good and as an essential element of global citizenship and understanding.
The Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program focuses specifically on leadership opportunities in the visual arts in both traditional and alternative venues. It is recognized worldwide for its success in preparing those who will shape the future of visual arts institutions. The program stresses the balance between understanding the ideas and forces that intersect with the visual arts and the development of keen management, marketing and financial skills.
Faculty in the Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program include Arthur Cohen, CEO of LaPlaca Cohen; Charlotte Cohen, fine arts officer for the US General Services Administration and former director of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program; Alan Fausel, director of the Fine Art Department at Bonhams Auctioneers and Appraisers NYC; Shelley Sanders Kehl, partner in Kehl Katzive and Simon; Susana Torruella Leval, former director of El Museo del Barrio; Elizabeth Marcus, associate director of Galerie St. Etienne; and Koven Smith, associate manager of Interpretive Technology at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About the Program in Visual Arts Administration at NYU Steinhardt
The Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program is located in the Steinhardt Schools Department of Art and Art Professions, the studio art department of New York University. The program offers a comprehensive curriculum that addresses a wide range of issues and aspects focusing on the visual arts. NYU has a related masters program in Performing Arts Administration located in Steinhardts Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions.