Join Christina Olsen, director of the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art, in conversation with Julian Cox, AGO Deputy Director & Chief Curator. Museums and cultural institutions around the world are facing unique opportunities and challenges. This series of conversations invites professionals from around the world who are thinking about art, audiences and learning in different ways.

Christina Olsen is the director of the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art. Before coming to Michigan she served as the Class of 1956 Director at the Williams College Museum of Art. Olsen has more than 25 years of leadership experience in museums and foundations, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum and Getty Foundation, and the Portland Art Museum. She is a national leader in debates about the changing role of campus art museums and their relationships with the public and campus, and has lectured frequently on the topic. She received her PhD in art history from the University of Pennsylvania.

Julian Cox joined the AGO as Deputy Director & Chief Curator in 2018. He leads the curatorial team in designing meaningful art experiences that embrace multiple—and often challenging—points of view. He focuses on exhibition planning in addition to developing the AGO’s significant collections, positioning Toronto and Ontario’s rich artistic landscape in the widest context possible to ensure the Gallery is inclusive and welcoming, and reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. Before joining the AGO, Julian was Chief Curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), working across two museums, the de Young and the Legion of Honor. ‌