Jacqueline Terrassa is the Carolyn Muzzy Director at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, which acts as a forum for experimentation, inquiry, dialogue, and connection. She has long been an advocate for the value of art and artists in our society and has sought to expand equitable access to cultural resources, build and enrich communities with the arts as a catalyst for change, and empower people to think critically, produce knowledge, imagine, and create. 

Prior to joining the Colby Museum in August 2020, she served as the Woman’s Board Vice President for Learning and Public Engagement at Art Institute of Chicago and held leadership and education positions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries; the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art; and the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago. From 2011 - 2015 she co-directed the Museum Education Division of the National Art Education Association. She has worked on projects with a range of artists, including Dawoud Bey, Theaster Gates, Mark Bradford, and Peter Hristoff, and written about artists and approaches to museum-based learning and creativity.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she earned her BFA at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and her MFA at the University of Chicago.

Presentation sponsored by Vista Foundation, which supports both the pursuit of the study of art history and the School of Art at DAAP. The Foundation’s annual lecture brings notable artists, art writers, art curators, and art historians to University of Cincinnati.