Shoshana Resnikoff Appointed Curator Of 20th And 21st Century Design At Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum today announced that it has appointed Shoshana Resnikoff as its Demmer Curator of 20th and 21st Century Design. With more than a decade of curatorial experience, Resnikoff comes to the Museum after five years as curator for the Wolfsonian-FIU, where she currently works with collections of 19th and 20th century European and American design and decorative arts. Resnikoff will assume the role of Demmer Curator beginning January 9, 2023.

"We are thrilled to welcome Shoshana to the Museum's curatorial team. Her expertise in design and decorative arts and her extensive experience developing exhibitions, shepherding significant acquisitions, and advancing critical scholarship will be a tremendous asset to our institution," said Marcelle Polednik, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. "With her career-long commitment to engaging and educating visitors, Shoshana will be a valuable ambassador for the Museum to our community."

As the Demmer Curator of 20th and 21st Century Design, Resnikoff will oversee the Milwaukee Art Museum's growing design collection, while also organizing major exhibitions, producing accompanying scholarly publications, and helping to create engaging public programs. Harnessing collection strengths in Prairie School, Arts and Crafts, American Art Deco, Machine Age industrial design, Mid-Century Modern, and the sculptural jewelry movement, Resnikoff will regularly rotate and refresh the design gallery installations to showcase new acquisitions and research, and increase visitor engagement with the collection. Resnikoff will also guide ongoing design acquisitions, including the addition of objects made in the 21st century.

"I am delighted to join the Milwaukee Art Museum and begin working with this remarkable collection. I look forward to creating programming that inspires visitors to consider connections between objects, makers, and users, both within the design collection and across the institution," said Resnikoff. "I am excited to build on existing Museum relationships and forge new connections within the Midwest community and beyond, and I hope to contribute to the work already being done by staff and leadership to make the Museum a space for all."

Shoshana Resnikoff is currently curator at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, a museum, library, and research institution with a focus on design, decorative arts, and material culture. Prior to joining the Wolfsonian-FIU in 2017, Resnikoff held curatorial positions at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA; the Terra Foundation for American Art in Chicago, IL; and Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI. At the Wolfsonian-FIU, Resnikoff organized exhibitions of 19th and 20th century European and American design, while also overseeing significant acquisitions to the permanent collection.

She has also worked with contemporary designers on site-specific installations and projects, such as a forthcoming exhibition of ceramic work by contemporary artist and activist Roberto Lugo, Street Shrines, opening at the Wolfsonian-FIU on November 28, 2022. Notable exhibitions Resnikoff has organized or contributed to include an upcoming exploration of jewelry and decorative arts (2024); You, Me, We, Us: Solidarity in AIDS Graphic Design (2020); A Universe of Things: Micky Wolfson Collects (2019); Deco: Luxury to Mass Market (2018); T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America (2018); and PlayTime (2018).

Resnikoff received her M.A. in Material Culture from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware, and a B.A. in American Studies from Emory University.

Photo by John Magnoski Photography / Milwaukee Art Museum

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