Chrysler Museum of Art |

NORFOLK, VA – The Chrysler Museum of Art is proud to announce a transformative $2 million reward from longtime Museum supporter and former curator Brooks Johnson to determine an endowed Curator of Photography place. The newly created Germaine Clair and Brooks Johnson Curator of Photography will make sure the continued progress, care, and visibility of the Museum’s pictures assortment.

Germaine Clair

The endowment honors Johnson’s late spouse, Germaine Clair, an energetic member of Hampton Roads’ artistic group identified for her heat, generosity, magnificence, and spirited advocacy for the humanities. A extremely completed graphic designer, Clair produced quite a few books and exhibition catalogues for the Chrysler Museum of Art, in addition to W.W. Norton & Company, Bulfinch Press, Aperture, and Takarajima Books. She taught design as adjunct college at Tidewater Community College, and was the Art Director for the Jewish News, for the Jewish Federation of Tidewater, for eighteen years. Clair’s legacy lives on by means of her lasting affect on the area’s cultural panorama and the numerous establishments she supported.

Johnson started his profession on the Chrysler Museum in 1977 because the Museum Photographer, and in 1980 turned the primary Curator of Photography, earlier than departing in 2008 to start a second profession at Harmony Investments, Inc., in Virginia Beach. During his 31-year tenure, Johnson introduced greater than 4,500 objects, spanning the historical past of pictures, into the gathering, whereas organizing greater than 100 exhibitions and over two dozen publications. In June 2019, he was awarded the title of Founding Curator of Photography by the Chrysler Museum.

Bob Lerner and Brooks Johnson within the exhibition for A Lens to the World in 2002.

“We are deeply appreciative of Brooks and Germaine, and the impact they’ve had on our community,” mentioned Erik H. Neil, Macon and Joan Brock Director of the Chrysler Museum of Art. “This remarkable gift allows us to build on decades of success and reinforces our commitment to photography as a vital artistic and educational medium.”

The Chrysler Museum of Art has established a world-class pictures assortment of greater than 5 thousand works. One of the fastest-growing areas of the Museum’s assortment, it contains iconic works by acknowledged masters alongside progressive items that replicate the medium’s range and breadth. The Museum maintains a dynamic roster of pictures exhibitions, drawing each on the energy of the gathering, in addition to strategic loans, to focus on the medium’s pivotal place inside visible tradition and its ever-evolving technical and conceptual potential.

Germaine Clair and Brooks Johnson

“Germaine and I conceived the Chrysler Museum’s photography program as an integrated program of collections, exhibitions, and publications, and with generous support from donors, that vision became an enduring reality,” mentioned Johnson. “Germaine’s encouragement and deep belief in photography shaped the program in countless ways, and this endowment carries our shared vision forward by ensuring the program continues to grow and serve the Museum and its community for generations to come. There could be no more meaningful way to honor Germaine, the life we shared, and the love, partnership, and inspiration she brought to my life.”

The Germaine Clair and Brooks Johnson Curator of Photography will guarantee a complete, forward-looking method to the medium, strengthening the Museum’s means to gather, interpret, and current pictures in ways in which encourage discovery, dialogue, and creativity.

ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART

The Chrysler Museum of Art welcomes you to attach with artwork, creativity, and our shared humanity. Internationally acknowledged for its assortment of greater than 35,000 objects, together with one the most important glass collections in America, the Museum additionally contains free admission, the state-of-the-art Perry Glass Studio, a full-service restaurant, store, theater, works on paper house, and oversees the historic Myers House. The Museum boasts an formidable schedule of exhibitions, occasions, and applications, and has been nationally acknowledged for its dedication to inclusion by means of its progressive gallery host program. For extra data, go to chrysler.org. Follow on social media @ChryslerMuseum to obtain the newest updates.

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For extra data or interview help, please contact Tanya Kaish Keller, Public Relations Advisor, 757-618-3655 | [email protected]

High-resolution pictures and credit can be found. Permission and credit score are required for the usage of all pictures, print or digital. Cropping will not be permitted on some pictures; see caption sheet if relevant.