Ellen Reeder to Head Women's Museum
Chive Mynde
By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 11, 2001; Page C11
Ellen D. Reeder, a scholar and archaeologist specializing in ancient
art, has been named director of the National Museum of Women in the
Arts.
Reeder, who starts her new job on Monday, spent the last two years as
deputy director for art at the in-the-news Brooklyn Museum of Art and
the previous 15 years as curator of ancient art at the Walters Art
Museum in Baltimore. A show Reeder organized in 1995 at the Walters,
"Pandora: Women in Classical Greece," laid the groundwork for her
interest in the director's post.
"The show was all about the depiction of women in ancient thought,
ritual and art. It was a transforming experience for me," said Reeder.
"And I learned about the need and interest in the public to learn more
about women in art. Even now, years later, I still lecture on that
subject and am amazed that the interest and thrust for today are the
same metaphors used in antiquity."
Through her years in Baltimore and in teaching positions at George
Washington and Johns Hopkins universities, Reeder watched the
development of the Women's Museum. The assembling of female artists'
work under one roof, she said, has proved the validity of the field:
"The exhibitions were solid work. And the museum has had an
interesting journey and stayed on its message. We serve a purpose, and
I believe when you bring together a critical mass, suddenly the
experience is advanced."
A native of Baltimore, Reeder earned an undergraduate degree from
Wellesley College and a master's and doctorate in classical
archaeology from Princeton. Her own published scholarship includes
"Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine" and "Pandora: Women in
Classical Greece." While at the Walters she also wrote a book on the
Hellenistic art in the collection.
She is 54 and, she said with a laugh, "I am the typical museum-goer --
a white woman, highly educated." Another attraction for the job was
location; her parents are ailing and live in Maryland.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the country's only
collection devoted to the visual, performing and literary achievements
of women. Opened in downtown Washington in 1987 by its founder,
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, it has built a collection of 2,700 works,
dating back to the 16th century, representing 800 artists including
Georgia O'Keeffe, Mary Cassatt, Helen Frankenthaler, Alice Neel and
Alma W. Thomas.
The landmark building and museum on New York Avenue NW downtown
attract 100,000 visitors a year with its share of blockbuster shows.
The most successful exhibits in the museum's 14 years were held during
the past year, when the Grandma Moses retrospective and the exhibition
on theatrical designer Julie Taymor brought in record crowds.
Reeder's new assignment likely won't have the flash points, reported
around the world, of her job at the Brooklyn Museum. She became a
member of the senior staff during the controversy around the
"Sensations" show, a look at contemporary art from Great Britain that
featured a painting of the Virgin Mary with a clump of elephant dung.
"On my first day on the job, someone threw paint at the art. On my
third day I was in appellate court. And as an ancient person, boy did
I learn about contemporary art," she said.
In Washington she wants to expand the presentations to include more
international dimensions and types of art. "I also want to look at
ceramics and textiles and the roles women have played in design and
landscape architecture. I think providing the scholarship lifts the
knowledge about women higher," she said.
Reeder succeeds Nancy Risque Rohrbach, who is leaving to pursue other
interests. "I love the museum, but I had been planning to leave for
some time. There are some other projects I want to do, but first I
wanted the summer off," Rohrbach said. "The museum is in very good
shape and it is extremely lucky to get Ellen Reeder, and she is lucky
to get the museum at this time."
© 2001 The Washington Post Company