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University Library DePaul Library

About the Curator

Julie Rodrigues Widholm is Director and Chief Curator of DePaul Art Museum where she leads the strategic and artistic vision to promote equity and education in the arts, while positioning Chicago as a global art city. Prior to taking this position in September 2015, she was Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art for sixteen years. There she curated major solo exhibitions of work by Rashid Johnson, Amalia Pica, Kathryn Andrews, Amanda Ross-Ho, and co-curated Doris Salcedo’s touring retrospective, but has also been a strong advocate for emerging Chicago-based artists. Rodrigues Widholm has authored and co-authored several publications including Rashid Johnson: Message to our Folks, Doris Salcedo, Kathryn Andrews: Run for President, Amalia Pica, Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art in Mexico City, Life Death Love Hate Pleasure Pain, and Tropicalia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, among others.  She has served as a juror and panelist for organizations including the Headlands Arts Center, Artadia, Creative Capital, New American Paintings, and the Nohl Fellowship. She has been a visiting critic at national universities, a graduate advisor, given numerous public talks, and has written extensively on contemporary art. In 2015, she was named one of Chicago’s ART50 Visual Vanguard by New City.  During the 2016-2017 academic year, she is a Senior Fellow in the Institute for Curatorial Research and Practice at the School of the Art Institute Chicago.