In Discussion with Margaret (Maggie) Adler

Photo Credit: Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Margaret (Maggie) Adler is Curator of Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on Paper at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Adler’s scholarly research focuses on nineteenth-century art, but she often collaborates with living artists on site-specific installations, including Jean Shin, Gabriel Dawe, Mark Dion, and Justin Favela. Since joining the Carter in 2013, Adler has organized numerous exhibitions, including Horizon Lines (2017); In Our Own Words: Native Impressions (2018); The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion (2020); Mythmakers: The Art of Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington (2020); Sandy Rodriguez In Isolation (2021) and Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation (2023). Prior to coming to the Carter, Adler held the Barra Fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art after serving as Director’s Office Fellow at the Williams College Museum of Art, where she worked on projects with artists Jenny Holzer and Pepón Osorio. Adler also held the position of Director of Development at the Addison Gallery of American Art. Adler’s publication highlights include Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation (published by University of California Press, 2023); Homer|Remington (distributed by Yale University Press, 2020); and Wild Spaces, Open Seasons: Hunting and Fishing in American Art (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016), which was nominated for the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award. Adler has also collaborated with artists Gabriel Dawe on Embodied Light (Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 2016) and Mark Dion on The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion (Yale University Press, 2020). Adler holds a Bachelor of Arts in classical languages and the history of art and a Master of Arts in the history of art from Williams College.

UZOMAH: How did you select each artist? What went into the process?

MAGGIE: Because we began with a sculpture as the basis of the exhibition—John Quincy Adams Ward’s The Freedman—we focused on artists primarily working in the realm of sculpture or installation. We selected artists whose work, beyond just their identity, spoke to themes of emancipation, freedom, or lack thereof in contemporary society. We were interested in artists beyond the coasts and focused on early to mid-career artists to raise the work of new artists in the museum space.

U: What made the exhibit's planning difficult before the 160th-anniversary celebration deadline? What made it easy?

M: We began thinking about the show in 2018. When we were really ready to get moving on recruiting the artists and speaking to all of them, it was the midst of the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. We worked with the artists remotely, which was not the best way to really get to know each other and share ideas. It would have been great to visit everyone’s studio and to spend time in each others’ company to really put together the show. That said, the brilliance of these artists made it easy even without being physically present.

U: Can you name some of the benefits of being a curator?

M: My real delight as a curator is helping artists achieve their goals. I am more questioning than many, probably because I am trained in historical art. So, I appreciate being able to dig deep with living artists in a way that I cannot really do when I am working on a 19th-century topic. But being trained in historical work, I am able to really probe the artist’s assumptions about themselves and their work in a way that encourages productive dialogue. For me, the success of being a curator is in the hands of visitors. I want the visitors to feel there’s something important or emotional or moving for them.

U: Is there a particularly interesting or unique artifact in the collection that strikes you the most?

M: We have thousands of objects in the Carter collection. Different works strike me at different times. The ones that become the focus of exhibitions are the ones that encourage questions. For this show, the idea of Ward’s Freedman was “but what does freedom look like in the 21st century?”

U: How are artworks from the museum collection put on view for exhibitions?

M: Do you mean this literally? Depends on the artwork—we have a fantastic team of preparators and conservators who make sure our objects are safely framed, mounted on pedestals or whatever they need for display. We have many permanent collection galleries and some temporary galleries. When works from our collection go on tour, as they have with Emancipation, we have to figure out which other works will go up in our spaces instead!

U: How do curators make history not just something readable but also a visual interpretation of the facts? How did you do that for this current exhibition about such a historical event?

M: In this case, the artists and the objects are the visual equivalent of texts—the pictures that speak a thousand words. The curators are just there to make sure the visual language is understandable to the public.

U: How do you plan exhibitions that include students on campus and the local community?

M: In our case, we are not a campus museum. We try to plan shows that speak to our community, and we hope that students, church groups, Girl Scouts, and community organizations want to come and experience the work. Maurita works more closely with students to collaborate at every stage.

U: What do you hope the community will take away from the Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation exhibition that they can take away and learn more about their history and those of all races, mainly African American?

M: This show is really about freedom and equality. While there have been many events throughout history that were meant to be the sign that all people were free and equal, the reality is that freedom and emancipation are an ongoing process and that there is still so much work to be done.

For more information about exhibits at Williams Museum of Art, please visit here. For information about Williams College, visit here. For more information about Maggie’s work as a Curator of Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on Paper at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art please visit here.