Elaine D. Gustafson

Elaine oversees the development, preservation, publication, interpretation, and presentation of artworks owned by the museum. She has worked at the Weatherspoon for over eleven years and holds a B.A. (summa cum laude) in the History of Art from Wheaton College, an M.A. in the History of Art from Brown University, and has completed coursework toward her doctorate, also at Brown University. Elaine was the director of exhibitions and collections and curator of contemporary art at the Tampa Museum of Art for ten years prior to joining the Weatherspoon’s staff. Other past experiences include positions at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Museum of Art at Rhode Island School of Design. An author of numerous publications, a member of the Association of Academic Museums & Galleries and the Association of Art Museum Curators, and a past board member of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Elaine has presented at and juried numerous art competitions and conferences. She taught as an adjunct professor at Auburn University, Troy State University, and presently at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her areas of interest include photography and modern American art. Elaine believes museums should be welcoming places that reflect multiple audiences, celebrate all cultures, and offer various means of entry: programmatically, interpretatively, and experientially. The projects she finds most fulfilling foster personal growth while inspiring visitors to engage with works of art and to think critically about the world in which we live.