Koya | Diversified Search Group is delighted to announce the appointment of Cris Scorza as Helena Rubinstein Chair of Education of The Whitney Museum of American Art.

As the preeminent institution devoted to the art of the United States, the Whitney Museum of American Art presents the full range of twentieth-century and contemporary American art, with a special focus on works by living artists. The Whitney is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting American art, and its collection – arguably the finest holdings of twentieth-century American art in the world – is the Museum’s key resource.

Cris Scorza has over twenty years of experience working at New York institutions, including the New Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, as well as ten years of audience development experience at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Scorza comes to the Whitney from the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), where she was the Senior Director of Education and Engagement from 2017 to 2021. At MCASD, she oversaw a diverse team that expanded opportunities for engagement and broadened the museum’s relevance through innovative and inclusive learning experiences. Scorza has curated social practice exhibitions and community-centered collaborations at MCASD, such as Oscar Romo: Recovered Stream (2020); To-Do • A Mending Project (2019); and Sanctuary Print Shop (2018).

As an Arts Administrator, she developed and managed a range of exhibitions, including Photography in Mexico: Selections from the Collection (2013); Alvaro Blancarte: Marking the Present (2015); DELIMITATIONS: A Survey of the 1821 United StatesMexico Border (2016); and Papel Chicano Dos: Works of Paper from the Cheech Marin Collection (2016). She has also authored essays on Las Hermanas Iglesias, Ramiro Gomez, John Valadez, and Daniel Guzman.

Scorza currently is a member of numerous professional and civic committees, including the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Art Advisory Committee, Museums & Race Steering Committee, San Diego Civic Youth Ballet Diversity and Inclusion Advisory, and the Editorial Advisory Board of Exhibition: A Journal of Exhibition Theory and Practice for Museum Professionals.

Born in Mexico City, Scorza studied painting at the Faculty of Arts and Design  Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She holds a BA in arts administration and art history from Baruch College, CUNY, an MA in leadership in museum education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.

We invite you to read the announcement here.