SMU Names First Female Meadows Museum Director
Amanda W. Dotseth will assume the role of the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum.
Dotseth, who will be the musuem’s first female director, has been serving as the director ad interim since the passing of the previous director, Mark A. Roglán, in 2021.
Dotseth will start the permanent role March 1.
“As a scholar, collaborator, and arts leader, Amanda Dotseth brings a unique understanding of the mission and role of the Meadows Museum,” SMU president R. Gerald Turner said. “In addition, her many years as curator then interim director has prepared her to position the museum for the future while understanding its legacy.”
Dotseth was an instrumental participant in the early development of the historic partnership between the Meadows Museum and Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado in 2009, in which the Prado loaned three major paintings and exchanged curatorial fellows between the institutions.
“The Meadows Museum has been a part of my professional DNA for two decades,” Dotseth said. “To now be at the helm of the institution as the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director during the next phase of the museum’s life is a great honor. I look forward to building upon and expanding the museum’s existing strengths as we reach out to the next generation of scholars, students, and museum-goers.”
She also played an integral role in the collaboration with Fundación ARCO in 2019. By cultivating partnerships with international art institutions, she has expanded the Meadows Museum’s reach and profile.
Dotseth has partnerships with academic and art institutions around the world, including the Spanish National Research Council, which will help the museum continue its mission to advance the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the arts and culture of Spain in the U.S.
In addition to working with the museum for nearly two decades, Dotseth is an alumna of the SMU Meadows School of the Arts, receiving her master’s degree in art history in 2006. She later received her Ph.D. at the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London in medieval Spanish art in 2015.
“After an extensive international search, I am thrilled that the best person to serve as the next director of the Meadows Museum is an extremely accomplished member of the SMU Meadows community,” said Samuel S. Holland, Algur H. Meadows Dean for SMU Meadows School of the Arts. “I look forward to seeing the new directions in which Dr. Dotseth will take the museum through her collaborative and innovative leadership and strong curatorial voice.”
