Kathy Halbreich

Currently executive director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Kathy Halbreich was director of the Walker Art Center from 1991 to 2007. During her tenure, the Walker diversified its visitor base, extended its civic and international presence, and broadened its multidisciplinary programming in the visual, performing, and media arts. Under Halbreich’s leadership, the Walker presented many groundbreaking exhibitions, such as those devoted to the artists Chantal Akerman, Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Hélio Oiticica, and Kara Walker, as well as How Latitudes Become Form: Art in a Global Age, which was the result of a three-year partnership with a Global Advisory Committee. Following her term at the Walker, she joined The Museum of Modern Art in the newly created position of Associate Director in February 2008 and was named the first Laurenz Foundation Curator in March 2016. Halbreich focuses on curatorial and strategic issues designed to amplify contemporary programs and initiatives at MoMA and PS1, both locally and globally. In 2014, she was the lead curator of Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963–2010,” organized with Tate Modern, and led the curatorial team for the 2018 exhibition Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts. Inducted into the American Association of Museums Centennial Honor Roll, a recipient of the Award for Curatorial Excellence from Bard College, and named a Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters, Halbreich has served as commissioner for North America and Cuba at the Gwangju Biennale (1995) and curatorial advisor for the Carnegie International as well as a member of the Documenta X and Documenta XIII International Committees. She is a board member of the Doris Duke Foundation.