Kelly Taxter Named Parrish Art Museum Director

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill will welcome Kelly Taxter as the Museum’s next director.

“After an extensive search, the Board enthusiastically selected Taxter,” said Mary E. Frank, President and Co-Chair of the Board. “Kelly’s depth of experience in the contemporary art world and at the Jewish Museum, where tradition melds with innovation, will enable her to infuse the Parrish with a new vitality and with a fresh perspective on the role that the Parrish can play in our complex community.”

Frank continued, “She will bring relevance to the Museum while respecting its historic roots. We look forward to her bold vision, her strong leadership and to turning the page to a new and exciting chapter in the history of the Parrish Art Museum. Kelly will benefit from the legacy of the strong directors she succeeds and whose contributions laid the foundation for the Museum’s next phase of excellence.”

Taxter will begin her new role on March 22.

“I am honored to have been selected as the next director of the Parrish Art Museum,” said Taxter. “It is a great privilege to lead the institution at this critical moment of change. I look forward to joining the Parrish board and team in welcoming visitors from all backgrounds to our unparalleled building and sharing exhibitions and collection presentations that reflect not only the artistic history of the East End, but also the bright future of the Museum.”

Taxter earned her B.A. in fine art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University. She continued her studies at Bard College, receiving her M.A. from the Center for Curatorial Studies.

In 2003, she co-founded Taxter & Spengemann along with Pascal Spengemann. Taxter represented artists Lutz Bacher, Frank Benson, Xavier Cha, Matt Johnson, Kalup Linzy, Wardell Milan, A.L. Steiner, and many others at the New York-based gallery.

From 2012 to 2013, she served as Consulting Curator at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. During her time at the museum, she was responsible for significant solo exhibitions of Martin Creed, Harry Dodge, and Robert Longo.

In 2013, she joined the Jewish Museum, where she has helmed major surveys of Marc Camille Chaimowicz and Rachel Feinstein, spearheaded commissions, projects, and exhibitions with Math Bass, Eliza Douglas, Alex Israel, Eva LeWitt, Peter Shire, Laurie Simmons, Valeska Soares, Vivan Suter, and Lawrence Weiner, co-curated an exhibition on Isaac Mizrahi and thematic group exhibitions, and will serve as guest curator for the first U.S. survey of filmmaker Jonas Mekas in 2022.

The Parrish is currently highlighting Housebound: Fairfield Porter and his Circle of Poets and Painters (through February 2021), Jackie Black, Last Meal (Series), 2001 – 2003 (through February 2021), Lucien Smith: Southampton Suite (through February 2021), What We See, How We See (through mid-April 2021), and Material Witness: Simone Leigh’s Sentinel in Context (through 2021). Additionally planned exhibitions include the Student Exhibition (March 12 – April 18, 2021), The Lens of Abstraction: Women Painters of the East End, 1950 to 2020, (May 2 – July 25, 2021), Platform: Tomashi Jackson—The Land Claim (July 11 – October 17, 2021), Roy Lichtenstein: History in the Making, 1948-1960 (July 31 – October 24, 2021), and Joel Meyerowitz: Photos of 9/11 (opens September 11, 2021).

The Museum’s inaugural outdoor sculpture installation, Field of Dreams, can be viewed 365 days a year, at no cost.

The Parrish’s galleries are temporarily closed, with plans to reopen in early spring.

Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. For more information, call 631-283-2118 or visit parrishart.org.