Nationally Recognized Miami Art Historian and Curator
Carol Damian to Head The Frost Art Museum at FIU

Carol Damian, professor and former chairperson of FIU’s College of Art and Art History, has been named interim director of The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum located on the University Park Campus. Damian, a long respected member of Miami’s arts community, has served as curator of The Museum’s permanent collection since 2006.

“Dr. Damian has proven to be a dynamic leader who combines scholarly experience, leadership skills and a passion for the arts,” said FIU Provost and Executive Vice President Ronald M. Berkman. “She is well-positioned to take over the helm …”

Damian was tapped by Berkman to head The Frost as it gears up for the scheduled November opening of its spectacular new home -- the 46,000-square-foot building designed by internationally acclaimed architect Yann Weymouth of global architectural firm Hellmuth Obata + Kassabaum (HOK). The new Frost Museum includes nine galleries and 9,000 square feet of gallery space.

“This may be the most exciting time in The Frost’s impressive history,” Damian said. “As we open a new chapter, I am thrilled to be leading this institution that has meant so much to me and to this community for so long.”

Meanwhile, the university continues its search for a permanent director amidst deepening statewide budget cuts and a competitive national job market for qualified museum directors. Damian will succeed acting director Melissa S. Levine, former associate director of The Wolfsonian, who is relocating to Michigan.

“The university remains committed to finding the best person to lead The Frost,” Damian said. “However, in the interim, the museum, its programs and exhibitions must continue to meet and even exceed the high standards set over the years.”
One of Miami’s most dynamic art institutions, The Frost ultimately helped establish Miami’s place as a beacon for art and art education in the Southeast. The Museum was founded in 1977 as a small student gallery. In the 1980’s Director Emerita Dahlia Morgan brought to the museum artistically daring, critically acclaimed exhibitions and artists, establishing the museum as a leader in the Miami arts community.

The museum’s permanent collection includes more than 6,000 works of art including the Coral Gables Metropolitan Museum & Art Center Collection, the Betty Laird Perry Emerging Artist Collection and the Oscar B. Cintas Fellows Collection.
An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, The Frost provides art education for all ages, offering engaging, innovative programs including Art Smart for 5th grade students, guided tours of its Sculpture Park and lectures by renowned artists and luminaries through its Steven & Dorothea Green Critics Lecture Series and Latin American & Caribbean Art Lecture Series.

Damian is a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., she received her MA in Pre-Columbian Art and her PH.D in Latin American History from the University of Miami. A specialist in Latin American and Caribbean Art, Damian teaches classes in Pre-Columbian, Colonial, Spanish and Contemporary Latin American Art, Modern Art surveys and Women in Art at FIU.

She is the author of The Virgin of the Andes: Art and Ritual in Colonial Cuzco (Grassfield Press, 1995) and is the Miami correspondent for Art Nexus and Arte al Dia. She lectures frequently on Latin American and Caribbean art and has curated numerous exhibitions.