Amada Cruz is the director and CEO of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. She was director of the Seattle Art Museum until October 2023 and was The Sybil Harrington Director & Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Art Museum from February 2015 through mid 2019.[1] Cruz has been a controversial museum leader, who has prioritized Hispanic artists as a contemporary art curator and a museum director. In 2018, she received the annual Virginia Cardenas Award for her outreach to communities of color while director of the Phoenix Art Museum.[2] In 2015, she was named by W magazine as one of the 11 most powerful museum directors.[3] Cruz has been embroiled in several controversies over the course of her career, including alleged discrimination of unhoused individuals at the Seattle Art Museum,[4][5] allegedly creating a hostile work environment at the Phoenix Art Museum,[6] and terminating the employment of an Asian American museum curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.[7][8]
- ^ "Phoenix Art Museum names new director". azcentral. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "Annual Dinner & Art Auction - Xico". xico.org. July 17, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ "11 Talented Women To Know". W Magazine. November 30, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ Keimig, Jas. "The Seattle Art Museum's Latest Installation: Hostile Architecture". The Stranger.
- ^ Keimig, Jas. "Collective of Seattle Art Museum Workers Call for a Boycott of the Museum". The Stranger.
- ^ Pela, Robrt L. "Nightmare at the Phoenix Art Museum: Docents Are Fleeing, Donors Drying Up". Phoenix New Times.
- ^ Hayden, Tyler (February 1, 2024). "New Santa Barbara Museum of Art Director Cancels Show, Citing Lack of Diversity, and Terminates Curator".
- ^ Liscia, Valentina Di; Stromberg, Matt (January 26, 2024). "Artists "Stunned" After Museum Nixes Reimagined Michael Fried Show". Hyperallergic.