SALEM, MA — The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) proudly announces the appointment of Wu as the museum’s first Huang Family Curator of Chinese Art and Culture. A distinguished scholar and curator, Wu brings nearly two decades of museum experience and an extensive academic background to PEM. She will focus on creating new interpretive galleries for the Chinese house Yin Yu Tang and the museum’s renowned collections of Chinese art and culture. Wu, who currently serves as the inaugural Jane Chace Carroll Curator of Asian Art at the Smith College Museum of Art, begins her post at PEM on March 4, 2024.

"We are thrilled to welcome Ms. Wu to PEM,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO. “Her scholarship, curatorial creativity and deep passion for sharing art and culture will enhance the museum’s commitment to broadening perspectives and fostering cross-cultural dialogue. Ms. Wu’s record in organizing compelling exhibitions and collaborating with diverse stakeholders, as well as her dedication to employing bold, innovative museum practices, make her a perfect fit for PEM."

During her eight-year tenure at the Smith College Museum of Art, Wu significantly expanded the museum’s Asian art collection while curating and co-curating over twenty exhibitions that explore a diverse range of historical and contemporary themes. She is known for engaging diverse audiences, catalyzing cross-campus initiatives and developing strategic partnerships with a range of institutions and organizations. As a guest lecturer and skilled producer of interdisciplinary symposia, she is adept at finding new ways to approach and consider Asian art within American and global contexts.

Expressing excitement about joining PEM, Wu noted, "I am thrilled to contribute to PEM's rich legacy as a leader in Chinese art and culture curation, research, and stewardship. My goal is to deepen the museum's holdings, create compelling exhibitions and explore innovative ways to engage visitors in the iconic Yin Yu Tang house and PEM’s galleries."

Wu, who is fluent in English and Chinese, is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at Stanford University. She holds a M.A. in Art History from Williams College and a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Fudan University, Shanghai. She has previously worked at the Guggenheim Museum, Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, the Clark Art Institute, MASS MoCA, and the Williams College Museum of Art.

PHOTO CREDIT
Yao Wu in the Carol T. Christ Asian Art Gallery at the Smith College Museum of Art. Photograph by Aprile Gallant.

ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world. We build, steward and share our superlative collection, which includes African, American, Asian export, Chinese, contemporary, Japanese, Korean, maritime, Native American, Oceanic and South Asian art, as well as architecture, fashion and textiles, photography and one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM's campus offers a varied and unique visitor experience, with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities, performance spaces and the Art and Nature Center, as well as numerous gardens and more than a dozen noted historic structures, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese home that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture in the United States.

MEDIA CONTACT
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Marketing & Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 617-259-6722