Leadership Update From UAMA

Memo from Dean Hasan Elahi, Arizona Arts:

I'm writing to share the exciting news that Olivia Miller has accepted the position of executive director at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon (where she earned her master's in art history). She will begin her new role in mid-September.

While this is bittersweet news for all of us at Arizona Arts, I want to take a moment to celebrate Olivia and her time at the U of A.

An alumna of the University of Arizona (BA '05, Art History & Studio Art), Olivia has been an integral part of Arizona Arts for more than a decade, beginning at UAMA in 2012 as Curator of Education. She soon moved into the Curator of Exhibitions and Chief Curator, before being appointed Director in 2023, becoming the first woman to hold the role. 

Over the course of her tenure, Olivia curated more than 35 exhibitions, many of which drew national attention. These included The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, which launched at UAMA in 2021 and went on to tour eight museums nationwide. Most recently, she brought the landmark exhibition Hank Willis Thomas: LOVERULES to Tucson—the largest survey of the acclaimed artist's work ever presented in the Southwest.

Her leadership extended beyond curatorial excellence. She oversaw the return and celebrated restoration of Willem de Kooning's "Woman-Ochre," a painting stolen from UAMA in 1985, and championed conservation for key works of public art and the museum's treasured Altarpiece of Ciudad Rodrigo. Olivia also contributed to the university through teaching, winning the Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award twice, and was recognized by Arizona Arts for her fundraising leadership.

While we will miss her deeply, this is a proud moment. Olivia, the School of Art and UAMA go back more than 20 years. Please join me in congratulating her on this well-deserved next chapter, and in thanking her for her years of leadership and friendship. We will announcing interim leadership plans in the coming weeks.