Mari Carmen Ramírez

Not to be confused with Mary Carmen Ramírez.
Mari Carmen Ramírez
Born (1955-04-01) April 1, 1955 (age 69)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Puerto Rico
Ph.D.University of Chicago, 1988
OccupationMuseum curator
Known forWortham Curator of Latin American Art at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
SpouseHéctor Olea

Mari Carmen Ramírez-Garcia is an American art historian, art curator, and the Wortham Curator of Latin American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.[1][2]

Early life and education

Ramírez was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where her mother was a medical researcher and her father a civil engineer.[3] She received undergraduate education at the University of Puerto Rico. Awarded a master's degree in 1978,[4] she earned a doctorate in 1988 at the University of Chicago, where she wrote a dissertation on Mexican muralists of the 1920s.[5]

Career

Ramirez began her career in Puerto Rico, where she served as assistant director of the Ponce Museum of Art,[2] and director of the Museo de Antropología, Historia y Arte at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus from 1985 to 1988.[6] While at the University of Texas at Austin from 1989 to 2000, she established the Latin American program within the Jack C. Blanton Museum of Art[7] and was recognized as the first curator of Latin American art in the United States.[8] She joined the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in May 2001.[9] With MFAH director Peter C. Marzio, she founded the International Center for the Arts of the Americas that same year. Time magazine named her one of the most influential Hispanic people in the United States.[10][11]

Other activities

Ramírez served on the jury that selected Carlos Martiel for the El Museo del Barrio’s inaugural $50,000 Maestro Dobel Tequila Latinx Art Prize in 2023.[12]

References

  1. ^ "To keep a museum collection growing, a curator stokes the passion of patrons". HoustonChronicle.com. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  2. ^ a b Lubow, Arthur (March 23, 2008). "After Frida (Published 2008)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  3. ^ Lubow, Arthur (March 23, 2008). "After Frida". The New York Times Magazine. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  4. ^ "Art History Program Co-Chairs" (PDF). College Art Association News. 18 (3): 4. May 1993.
  5. ^ Mari Carmen Ramírez-Garcia, "The Ideology and Politics of the Mexican Mural Movement: 1920–1925." Ph.D. dissertation—University of Chicago, 1989.
  6. ^ "Mari Carmen Ramírez". Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton University. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  7. ^ "Mari Carmen Ramírez". Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (January 24, 2023). "How the Whitney's Top Latino Curator Is Shaking Up the Art World". New York Times. Vol. 172. p. C4. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  9. ^ "Mari Carmen Ramirez: Tenth Anniversary of the Latin American Department". Literal Magazine. April 24, 2012. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  10. ^ Lacayo, Richard (August 22, 2005). "25 Most Influential Hispanics in America". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  11. ^ "Mari Carmen Ramirez interview". 6 November 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. ^ Maximilíano Durón (8 September 2023), Carlos Martiel Wins Maestro Dobel Tequila and El Museo de Barrio’s Inaugural $50,000 Latinx Art Prize ARTnews.