The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) has hired Kevin Tervala as its chief of curatorial affairs and exhibitions. Tervala will oversee the museum’s curatorial division, including collections, exhibitions planning and scheduling, and scholarship.
“Mia is one of this country’s great art institutions, and I have long been impressed with its collection and its approach to visitor accessibility with its free admission,” Tervala tells The Art Newspaper. “When the job came up, it was one of those things where I couldn’t not apply.”
A Baltimore native who received a Ph.D. in African studies from Harvard University, Tervala comes to Mia from the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA). For the past three years, he has served as BMA’s chief curator. Tervala joined the institution in 2015 as a curatorial fellow of the arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific Islands. He became head of the department two years later. Leaving the museum, he admits, will be bittersweet.
During his BMA tenure, Tervala curated exhibitions such as A Perfect Power: Motherhood and African Art and Kuba: Fabric of an Empire. He also helped arrange the last-minute arrival of Amy Sherald: American Sublime after the artist cancelled a planned stop in Washington, DC. As chief curator, Tervala oversaw 50 staff members across ten departments—twice as many as there are at Mia. But Mia’s 100,000-object collection is more wide-reaching than BMA’s, representing the arts and cultures of six continents.
“One thing I love about Mia is that it has an encyclopaedic collection that has consistently prioritised art outside of Europe and the United States,” Tervala says. “What got me started in art museums was telling stories and histories about objects and art from around the world, and to do so in a city that is as diverse and cosmopolitan as Minneapolis and St. Paul is a real treat. It’s an unparalleled opportunity to work with communities from where these objects came from, to talk about histories and art-making and artists and traditions. It’s really exciting.”
Tervala hopes to work with other institutions around the world to stage exhibitions drawing on the breadth of Mia’s collection. “I’m thinking about how the museum can leverage partnerships with other institutions, both nationally and internationally, to bring even larger and more exciting projects to Minneapolis and St. Paul, and to all of Minnesota,” he says. “It’s important that great art from around the world come to the Twin Cities.”
Museums, he acknowledges, are competing with countless other sources of media and entertainment to capture visitors’ attention. “Exhibitions should speak to what’s going on in the world, and to people of a variety of different ages and backgrounds. They should have beautiful artworks, they should be engaging, and they should be accessible,” Tervala says. “The goal is to create exhibitions that are going to grab people, not only with the power of the artworks but also through storytelling.”
“Kevin is the kind of curator museums hope to find. He brings a rare combination of intellectual rigor, collaborative leadership and long-range vision, making him an exceptional fit for Mia,” Mia director and president Katie Luber said in a statement. “He understands how museums can honour scholarship while creating meaningful experiences for today’s audiences. We’re thrilled to welcome him and look forward to the vision he’ll bring to our collections and exhibitions.”
Tervala’s first day on the job will be 8 September. “I can’t wait to get started,” he says.
