Elizabeth Barker helmed the Frick Pittsburgh through the pandemic. But as of October 2024, she will be stepping down from the museum. Barker came to the Frick in 2019 from earlier posts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, and the Yale Center for British Arts.
The Frick’s exhibition programming under Barker flourished. Barker was Executive Director for the most-attended event in the Frick Pittsburgh’s history, Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt, which showcased items from both the Pittsburgh museum and its sister museum on Madison Avenue in New York. Barker oversaw Treasured Ornament. Treasured Ornament courted controversy when it was postponed in fall of 2023 during a period of intense political turmoil. But Barker remained committed to putting on a quality exhibition and maintained the position that postponing the show allowed for it to be better. And by all accounts, Treasured Ornament has been a success, to positive feedback from both visitors and membes of the press. Curator Dawn Brean called one of its major takeaways that “the beauty of art and everyday objects can be a bridge for understanding, compassion, and goodwill.”
Elizabeth Barker Steps Down as Executive Director of the Frick Pittsburgh
Part of what Barker brought to the Frick was a focus on inter-disciplinary programming and community engagement, a hallmark of her curatorial practice. In her time at the Met, she got writer and musician Patti Smith to read and perform at the museum. That was one of the Met’s most attended events of that year and added a new dimension to the exhibition. Barker’s leadership and keen sense that a museum needs to stay relevant in a changing social climate was part of what made Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt more than an Old Masters exhibition.
Under Barker, the museum invited viewers to ask questions about how artwork becomes canonized through a participatory installation in the Frick’s atrium where they could respond on post-it notes to questions like “Who should decide what goes into a museum?” Though some answered “Taylor Swift,” or “me,” it added an extra layer of community engagement to the show. Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt sold out daily and drew museumgoers from all over the region.
In the meantime, the museum’s Board of Trustees has appointed a nationwide search committee to find a New Executive Director. “I am extraordinarily proud of all The Frick has accomplished over the last five years,” Barker said in a statement to TABLE. “I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to broaden The Frick’s reach and impact. As I move on to my next chapter, I will continue to root for this very special museum that enjoys a very special place in the cultural fabric of this region.”
Story by Emma Riva / Photo courtesy of the Frick Pittsburgh
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