ATLANTA, Oct. 15, 2024 — Today, the High Museum of Art announced the 
appointment of Anni Pullagura, Ph.D., as its Margaret and Terry Stent associate curator of American art. Pullagura currently serves as the inaugural postdoctoral fellow, offered jointly by the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., while also serving as a consulting assistant curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA/Boston). She will join the High on November 11.
“Anni comes to us with a decade of experience as a museum professional and scholar – and a unique perspective on how to bridge the strengths of our historical American art collection with the concerns of contemporary audiences,” said High Museum of Art Director Rand Suffolk. “We look forward to welcoming her to the High, and we’re excited about her impact on this department moving forward.”
Pullagura will be responsible for the growth and development of the museum’s collection of American paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints by academically trained artists working in the United States from the 17th century through the 1960s, as well as related exhibitions and programs. She will work closely with Katherine Jentleson, senior curator of American art and Merrie and Dan Boone curator of folk and self-taught art, and with curators of other collections whose holdings include works by American artists, on a major reinstallation of the American art galleries, set to open in 2026. Just this year, the High formally reorganized its curatorial structure to recognize the equity of and correspondence between all examples of American art — whether academic or self-taught — removing any implication of a barrier or hierarchy.
“At the High, American artists can be found across a range of media and approaches that both challenges us and enables us to share a distinct story of American art in the future, which Anni is uniquely poised to tell,” said Jentleson. “Her passion for finding new perspectives on historical collections has been shaped by her educational and work experiences at top tier institutions, where she has formed relationships with mentors and colleagues who sing her highest praises.”
In her current fellowship with the National Gallery of Art and the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), Pullagura has worked with colleagues on the research and interpretation of the museums’ pre-20th-century collections. She has provided curatorial support for the YCBA’s upcoming J. M. W. Turner exhibition, “J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality” and the reinstallation of its historic painting and sculpture galleries. She also serves on the Art of the Americas Advisory Think Tank at Harvard Art Museums, which convenes American art curators for expanded study and presentation of art of the United States, and previously held fellowship positions at ICA/Boston, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Pembroke Center at Brown University, the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Pullagura earned a Ph.D. in American studies from Brown University and her undergraduate degree from Emory University.
“I am thrilled to return home to Atlanta and the High to collaboratively steer the American art collection as part of the museum’s curatorial team,” said Pullagura. “With such exceptional colleagues, who are committed, as I am, to frameworks of care for objects and people, I am excited to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to a shared goal of building a deeper, more expansive view of American art at the High.”
About the Margaret and Terry Stent Associate Curator of American Art Position
Pullagura’s position was endowed in 1999 by Margaret and Terry Stent, longtime supporters of the High who began donating to the museum in 1992. The High’s Stent Family Wing was named to honor their support of the museum’s 2005 expansion, and in 2009, they endowed the Margaret and Terry Stent Distinguished Lecture in American Art series. Terry Stent is a lifetime board member and former board chair.
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 19,000 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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