Alumna Katherine Luber (MA in Art History, 1985) has been appointed as the new Director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia). She will take the place of Kaywin Feldman, who stepped down from the position to become director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Luber comes to Mia from the San Antonio Museum of Art where she was the director since 2011.
In the museum's official press release, the chair of Mia's board David Wilson wrote, “Mia is entering a period of transformation as we embark on an ambitious campus rejuvenation and double down on our inclusion, equity, and diversity initiatives to ensure our outstanding art collections and ambitious exhibitions and education programs serve every community. Katie possesses the curatorial and management experience we sought in a leader. She has an authentic, passionate vision for how art can engage, educate, and delight us all.”
News of Luber's appointment has been announced widely, including within the New York Times and ArtNews. Press coverage has noted her diverse and versatile background, including an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a successful entrepreneurial venture. In addition to her master's degree from UT Austin, Luber earned her bachelor's degree in Art History from Yale University and a doctoral degree in Art History from Bryn Mawr. The Mia press release supplements, "Prior to arriving in San Antonio, Luber’s other art museum positions included serving as a research associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, for nearly 10 years, as a John G. Johnson Curator of Northern Renaissance and Baroque Paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she oversaw the reinstallation of those collections, engaged with the museum’s 19th-century French paintings, researched and installed the museum’s collection of Latin American Colonial paintings, and oversaw the installation and mechanical renovation of the building housing the museum’s world-famous Rodin collection."
Luber's daughter, Diana Luber, currently follows in her mother's footsteps as a master's candidate in Art History at The University of Texas at Austin, studying Islamic art under the direction of Associate Professor Stephennie Mulder.