ATLANTA, Aug. 1, 2022 — The High Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Andrew Westover as its Eleanor McDonald Storza director of education. Westover, who currently serves as the Keith Haring director of education and public engagement at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, brings a wide range of experience as a museum leader and educator who has developed strategic initiatives and partnerships to deepen audience engagement, advance scholarship, and tackle urgent issues and topics through thoughtful, diverse programming. Westover will join the High on Sept. 12.
“Andrew’s proven experience as a community builder, educator and museum leader make him strongly positioned to lead the future of the High’s education department,” said Rand Suffolk, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director of the High. “We look forward to working with him to develop programming that brings all of Atlanta together to gain knowledge, strengthen empathy and make memories.”
The High’s Education department, including a full-time staff of 10 and a 100+ member docent corps, is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of the Museum’s communities and to offering a variety of educational programs that engage visitors, educators and students with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. Westover will lead the strategic direction of the department and its initiatives and will support the Museum’s larger goals relating to exhibition development and interpretation, fundraising, community partnerships and the collecting program.
The High’s public programs include UPS Second Sundays (free admission days), HIGH Frequency Fridays, Friday Jazz and Toddler Thursdays, as well as a robust schedule of artist and art historian talks, hands-on art classes, and the recently launched Lifelong Learning initiative, featuring programs geared toward ages 50+. School and Teacher Services facilitates field trips, student exhibitions and educator training and provides teacher resources to bring the High’s exhibitions and programs into the classroom, reaching more than 25,000 students last year. Teen and College initiatives include the Teen Team, Museum Careers Summer Academy, the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective, and the Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship, which seeks to diversify curatorial cohorts in American art museums. In addition, the Greene Family Learning Gallery, featuring two distinct spaces, offers a welcoming, safe and fun environment with child-centered and directed activities for babies to 8-year-olds.
In his current position at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Westover established a new long-range vision for the education department and provides leadership and strategy for all educational initiatives, including performances, lectures, artist residencies, and school and youth programs. He helms foundation relationships for the department and serves as the education liaison to city- and state-wide cultural affairs organizations. He has also provided leadership for the New Museum’s Coronavirus Response Team and Racial Equity Task Force. Westover previously held positions at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Phoenix Art Museum. Prior to entering the museum field, he served as a Fulbright English Teaching Fellow at the University of the Free State, South Africa, and as a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher with Teach for America.
“I am honored to be named the Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education at this important moment of creativity and innovation at the High,” said Westover. “I am especially excited to collaborate with the Museum’s nationally recognized team, strengthening opportunities for people to engage across sectors and diverse communities with art, artists and the critical questions of our time. With its strong collections, exhibitions and education programs, the High is uniquely positioned for greater social and civic impact, and this work truly inspires me.”
Westover holds a Ph.D. and Master of Education focused on culture, institutions and society from Harvard University; a Master of Religion from the Claremont School of Theology; a Master of Secondary Education from Arizona State University; and a Bachelor of History from Samford University.
About the High Museum of Art
Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs. Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 18,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper. The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit www.high.org.
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Media contact:
Marci Tate Davis
Manager of Public Relations
404-733-4585
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