This week the Birmingham Museum of Art announced the appointment of Hallie Ringle as the museum’s curator of contemporary art. She succeeds Wassan Al-Khudhairi, who left the BMA to join the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis last year. Previously Ringle was an associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she curated exhibitions including the final installment of the museum’s landmark series of “F-shows,” 2017’s “Fictions” (which included work by Atlanta artists Paul Stephen Benjamin and Krista Clark).
Studio Museum director and chief curator Thelma Golden said, “Hallie has been an integral member of the Studio Museum’s curatorial team for the past five years. She has demonstrated a thoughtful and engaging curatorial vision at a dynamic time in the Museum’s history. She will be truly missed, but I am incredibly excited for her and the BMA in this fantastic new chapter of her career.”
In addition to developing exhibitions, publications, and lectures drawing from the museum’s contemporary art collection, Ringle will also will lead the Museum’s Collectors’ Circle for Contemporary Art, a group devoted to educating its members about contemporary art.
“We are thrilled to welcome Hallie to the Birmingham Museum of Art,” said BMA director Graham Boettcher. “As a highly regarded curator of contemporary art, Hallie brings with her an impressive record of groundbreaking exhibitions—working with both emerging and established artists—and a deep commitment to community engagement. With Hallie’s expertise and vision, I am confident that the BMA’s contemporary art program will continue to flourish, and I look forward to watching her make her mark on our institution and its collection.”
Ringle said, “I am delighted to join the BMA at an exciting time in a dynamic city when the Museum is increasingly using contemporary art to help shape critical conversations happening locally and nationally. I am eager to work alongside their fantastic team to think strategically about ways we can further community dialogue, enhance the collection with important works by emerging and established artists, and tell even more stories through contemporary art.”
