Image

The University Museum of Contemporary Art has announced that Amanda Herman has accepted the position of interim museum director, effective July 1. Previous Director Loretta Yarlow ended her tenure on June 30.

Since joining the UMCA as interim education curator in 2018, Herman has transitioned into the permanent, full-time education curator position, supporting the UMCA, Augusta Savage Gallery and Hampden Gallery. She has also expanded the breadth and reach of these programs across campus and throughout the region.

As the education curator at the FAC, Herman teaches graduate students to curate their own exhibition and undergraduates to serve as museum educators at the UMCA. She plans public programs and facilitates on-going collaborations with faculty across disciplines, including workshops with the College of Nursing and an annual service-learning program with the Department of Art History and local high schools.

Previously, Herman worked for more than a decade in San Francisco as an arts educator for foster youth and as a multi-media artist. Her collaborative projects involved long-term creative work with communities and individuals to produce films, photos and public events that addressed complex social issues.

Since moving to the area from San Francisco in 2012, she has taught advanced photography, art and social practice as an adjunct at the Five Colleges, was founder and producer of Live Art Magazine – created for the stage at the Academy of Music in Northampton – and has created many innovative projects with schools and organizations in Springfield, Holyoke and Easthampton.

Herman holds an M.F.A. in Social Practice from California College of the Arts in San Francisco.