The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University—New Brunswick has extended its gratitude and congratulations to Chief Curator Donna Gustafson, who will retire on September 1. During her nearly two decades of service to the museum and the university, Gustafson’s forward-thinking contributions to the Zimmerli reach far beyond the art and exhibitions that she put on display.

“I have enjoyed my work at the Zimmerli with my colleagues at the museum, the university, and especially the students at Rutgers who challenge us all to think differently and expansively,” said Gustafson, chief curator since 2022. “My departure is bittersweet, but I am looking forward to having time to work on projects that I have long put on hold.”

Gustafson embarked on her career at Rutgers University–New Brunswick in 2006, teaching an array of humanities courses. In 2011, she joined the Zimmerli as curator of American art and Mellon Director for Academic Programs. In the latter role, she led the next generation of museum workers, providing academic guidance and hands-on experience to students in the classroom and the galleries.

Gustafson curated more than 20 exhibitions that informed and inspired a broad range of audiences. She presented new perspectives of work by key artists in the Zimmerli’s collections, including “At/around/beyond: Fluxus at Rutgers”; “Polymorphic Sculpture: Leo Amino’s Experiments in Three Dimensions”; and “George Segal: Themes and Variations.” Gustafson also introduced artists through their first museum exhibitions, including “Jesse Krimes: Apokaluptein 16389067” and (Rutgers alumnus) “Alonzo Adams: A Griot’s Vision.” In addition, she collaborated with Rutgers colleagues to explore cross-disciplinary concepts of such subjects as “Water” (with Zimmerli curators); “Striking Resemblance: The Changing Art of Portraiture” (with Susan Sidlauskas in art history); “Subjective Objective: A Century of Social Documentary Photography” (with Andres Zervigon in art history); and “Angela Davis: Seize the Time” (with Gerry Beegan at Mason Gross), which traveled to the Oakland Museum of California.

Gustafson also served as interim director from 2020 to 2022, following the death of director Tom Sokolowski. She Gustafson holds a Ph.D. in art history from Rutgers University. Prior to joining Rutgers, she held curatorial positions at the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, the American Federation of Arts in New York City, and was an independent curator and scholar.

The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers is located at 71 Hamilton Street (at George Street) in New Brunswick. For more information, visit  zimmerli.rutgers.edu.