Pictured: Ringling Museum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Ola Wlusek. Photo courtesy of The Ringling Museum.

The Ringling Museum has announced the creation of a new curatorial position, the Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the first person to hold the title, Ola Wlusek, who officially joined the museum on March 19. With a master of arts in contemporary art history from Goldsmiths, University of London and a pair of bachelor’s degrees in art history and cultural anthropology from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, Wlusek’s career has taken her from England to Italy and most recently back to Canada, where she served as curator of contemporary art for the Ottawa Art Gallery and as public art program coordinator for the City of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. As she takes the reins of Ringling Museum’s modern and contemporary collections, exhibitions and collaborations, SRQ took a moment to see what’s in store.

As the first Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, what kind of precedent do you want to set for the position? Ola Wlusek: The Mondas’ gift signifies a desire to discover meaningful and thought-provoking artistic voices by our community. The gift allows for ongoing contemporary exhibition programming and it carves out a crucial space for current art practices at the Museum, while promoting a dialogue within visual arts culture. I embrace exhibition-making as a way to encourage collaboration and cross-disciplinary practices, and support accessibility and participatory opportunities for a wide audience.

What excited you about joining The Ringling Museum? I’m thrilled to be joining such an established institution, which is beloved by the local community and also has an international reputation. The Museum is an amazing landmark for cultural production through its rotating historical and contemporary exhibitions, scholarly contributions, community outreach and public programming designed for diverse audiences. The Museum also makes space for emergent and meaningful artistic practices of today.

Having officially joined last Monday, what's your first week impression? My first impression was that my brilliant curatorial colleagues are doing a fantastic job at bringing important artists working today into the forefront of exhibition programming. I’m very much so looking forward to working alongside the brilliant team of curators and in the professional environment of the Ringling.

Though Ringling Museum is famous for its collection of Old Masters, why is it also important to give space and attention to modern and contemporary art as well? Some of the most exciting artists working today recognize the importance of confronting the past in order to make sense of the present. Housing such a complex and trans-historical collection is a perfect opportunity to invite artists and scholars to reactivate it and respond to it through their art and research, in order to situate it in a relevant-to-us context.  The Museum offers a tremendous resource with its collection, library and history, all which are great opportunities to be reinterpreted through contemporary artistic practices. Contemporary art has the ability to acknowledge our oftentimes-fraught past and make sense of it in the context of the present, while transforming our preconceived notions and beliefs.

What would you like to explore moving forward? I’d like to focus on creating a platform for diverse and marginalized voices by working with artists and cultural producers who reflect our societal conditions and approach history, and the present, with a critical lens. I’m also really excited at the prospect of working collaboratively with institutional partners and organizations across Florida and internationally.

Pictured: Ringling Museum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Ola Wlusek. Photo courtesy of The Ringling Museum.