LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Autry National Center announced the appointment of accomplished anthropologist and scholar, Dr. Shelby J. Tisdale, to the newly created Vice President of Curatorial and Exhibitions position. Reporting to the Autry’s President and CEO, Dr. Tisdale’s extensive experience in museum management and curation of Native American and Southwest culture exhibitions will serve to guide the Center’s curatorial process, including its intellectual vision, and shape the future direction of exhibitions and acquisitions.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Tisdale join the Autry team. Her combined experience in the museum and academic fields across the country will serve to enhance the Autry’s public programs and exhibitions and provide a holistic view of the American West,” said Marshall McKay, Autry Chairman. “I also look forward to her stewardship of the Autry Collections as we continue to grow as a prominent history and culture institution.”
Dr. Tisdale will oversee the curatorial staffs of the Autry and Southwest Museum Collections, oversee the Autry’s exhibition schedule, create and implement scholarly exhibitions, expand scholarship and public learning, collaborate with outside scholars, and manage and expand the Autry’s diverse collections and acquisitions.
“It is an honor to be part of the leadership team that will be creating a new vision for this world-class museum,” said Dr. Tisdale. “I look forward to working with the board, staff and community in telling the fascinating multicultural stories that make up the past, present and future of the American West through exhibitions, publications and the promotion of scholarly research. The Autry’s diverse collections provide us with an opportunity to tell these stories in exciting new ways that engage and inspire life-long learning and spark the imagination. I am delighted to be joining the Autry at such a pivotal time as it moves into a new phase of growth and redefinition.”
Most recently, Dr. Tisdale was the Director of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, NM with prior experience at the Millicent Rogers Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum, Philbrook Museum of Art, Arizona State Museum, School of American Research, Burke Museum, and University of Colorado Museum. She has also served on the faculty of Pima Community College, University of Arizona, Arizona Western College, and University of California Extension, Riverside. She was also the Southwest Collections consultant for the exhibition Infinity of Nations at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Her writing credits include award-winning publications Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection (2001), and Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection (2006). Her latest publication, Pablita Velarde: In Her Own Words (2012), is the first of three in a series on three generations of Santa Clara Pueblo women artists also featuring Helen Hardin and Margarete Bagshaw.
