Kathleen Berzock

Kathleen Bickford Berzock (Ph.D., Art History, Indiana University, 1995) is Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, where she provides artistic leadership of the museum’s exhibition program and collection strategy in support of the museum’s cross-cultural and interdisciplinary mission. Berzock has a strong interest in museum practice and history, particularly in regard to African art. She was curator of African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1995 – 2013. There she oversaw the development and display of the museum’s African art collection and presented internationally acclaimed exhibitions, including Benin—Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria (2008) and For Hearth and Altar: African Ceramics from the Keith Achepohl Collection (2005), for which she also authored the scholarly catalogue. She was also research assistant for African art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1993-1995). She is co-editor (with Christa Clarke) and contributor to the volume Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display (2010), which includes essays on the history of thirteen museum collections and through them chronicles the shifts in meaning and public perception of African art in this country. Other museum publications include Benin: Royal Arts of a West African Kingdom (AIC, 2008) and The Miracles of Mary: A 17th Century Ethiopian Manuscript (AIC, 2002).

“Approaching mid-career I was searching to understand how to articulate the experiences and skills, beyond my curatorial specialization, that I had accumulated over two decades of curatorial work. I was ready for bigger responsibilities and a more influential leadership role in an institution. CCL gave me a roadmap to accomplish this, and so much more. ”

Articles Related to Kathleen Berzock

2012-10-25

CCL Announces Class of 2013

Program Expands with International Participants New York, October 25, 2012 – The Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL) is proud to announce the selection of its sixth class of Fellows. The Class of 2013 will comprise ten outstanding curators who begin their training in New York in January.  Carlos Basualdo, Keith L. and Katherine Sachs ... Read More >

2015-02-22

Alumni in the News | Judith Dolkart Dives in as Director of Addison Gallery

  Judith Dolkart (CCL '13) Dives in as Director of the Addison Gallery During CCL, Judith served as deputy director of art and archival collections and Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes Foundation, where she helped plan the relocation of the collections from Merion to the Foundation's new building ... Read More >

2013-12-11

Block Museum at Northwestern Names Kathleen Bickford Berzock (CCL 2013)

Kathleen Bickford Berzock, esteemed curator of African art and member of the CCL Class of 2013, is headed to the Block Museum at Northwestern as Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs.  Speaking of her new role, Kathleen noted “The Block Museum is poised to play a major role as an ambassador ... Read More >

2019-10-09

Judith Dolkart (CCL 2013) Named Deputy Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts

Congratulations to Judith Dolkart (CCL 2013) who has been named Deputy Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts!  Dolkart has served as the director of the Addison Gallery of American Art at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts since 2014. Prior to joining the Addison Gallery, Dolkart was the deputy director of ... Read More >

2021-12-08

Emily Ballew Neff (CCL 2013) Appointed Director of San Antonio Museum of Art

Emily Ballew Neff (CCL 2013) has been named Director of the San Antonio Museum of Art!  Most recently, Neff served as director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art for six years. While at the Memphis Brooks, she oversaw the museums’s relocation to a new building in downtown Memphis and instituted ... Read More >