Britany Salsbury Appointed Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings

Cleveland, OH (February 9, 2018) – The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Britany Salsbury as Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings. Salsbury will work closely with Emily Peters, Curator of Prints and Drawings, on the growth, display, and interpretation of the museum’s collection of over 24,000 prints and drawings. Salsbury will assume her responsibilities on March 27.

“I am delighted to welcome Britany to the museum and look forward to having her as a colleague. We especially look forward to enjoying the benefits of her expertise in 19th and 20th century European prints and drawings, areas in which we have outstanding holdings,” said Director William M. Griswold.

The museum’s collection of old master and modern prints is known nationally and internationally for its high quality and rare impressions. Its drawings collection represents the work of European and American artists from the 15th to the 21st century. The importance of Cleveland’s holdings of prints and drawings places the museum at the forefront of public collections in the United States.

“I am thrilled to return to Cleveland and to the CMA, where my first art history classes as an undergraduate were held,” said Salsbury. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with the museum’s remarkable collection of works on paper, and with its encyclopedic holdings as a whole. I look forward to collaborating with Emily Peters to build the collection of prints and drawings and to develop new ways of using these works to engage the museum’s public and to reach new audiences. I know how important the CMA is to the Cleveland community and I’m excited to get to know local supporters of prints and drawings, while also working with colleagues on the exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions that have established the museum’s international reputation.”  

Salsbury brings over a decade of museum experience in her area of specialization. She comes to Cleveland from the Milwaukee Art Museum, where she is Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings. She held a post-doctoral Mellon Curatorial Fellowship at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (2015–2017); worked as a research assistant and a Mellon Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2012–2015); and as a McCrindle Intern at the Morgan Library & Museum (2010–2011). 

Salsbury’s recent exhibitions include Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France and Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching for the Milwaukee Art Museum and Altered States: Etching in Late 19th-Century Paris for the RISD Museum. She was editor and principal author for the experimental online publication associated with Altered States. She is co-editor of the forthcoming book Collecting Prints, Posters, and Ephemera: Perspectives in a Global World and a frequent contributor to the journals Print Quarterly and Art in Print.

Her position at the Cleveland Museum of Art marks a return to the city: Salsbury received her B.A. in Art History and English at Case Western Reserve University and interned at the Museum of Contemporary Art. She earned an M.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds an M. Phil. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, City University of New York.