september FEATURED artist

Local Museum Curator to Speak at Rye Art Study

Pam Meadows is a contemporary curator with an emphasis on cultivating exhibitions with a focus on site-specific/conscious art. Currently the Director & Curator of Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy, Meadows will speak to the Rye Art Study Group about her role as an arts facilitator, the successes and “failures” in navigating site-specific projects, and dive deep into a few of her favorite exhibitions from the onset of her career to the present, and what’s ahead for Lamont Gallery.  

What is site-specific artwork? Generally, site-specificity involves the commission or creation of new work for a very distinct space. Typically, the artist will do a site visit and intentionally choose facets of a space or architecture to “read” and activate with artistic intervention. The process is highly collaborative between the artist and the curator. With that partnership brings an array of creative problem-solving and opportunity! At the core of Meadows’ curatorial practice is her commitment to compelling visual storytelling and creating immersive experiences. 

The curatorial field blends Meadows’ life’s passions of art history, curatorial studies, writing, and collaboration. Through her practice, she has explored topics and themes such as re-imagining a functioning diner from the 1960s, a sound deprivation room made of pigmented wax, inflatable sculptures “popping” in and out of PEA’s campus, and more! All these projects engage the senses and are in pursuit of creating participatory experiences where guests find themselves at the threshold of a truly one-of-a-kind adventure. 

Pamela Meadows is currently the Director & Curator at Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy. Prior to joining PEA, Meadows was the Curator at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA), the Director & Curator of Galleries at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, and the Associate Curator of Exhibitions & Programs at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA.

Meadows has curated a diverse range of exhibitions at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, TX), Find & Form Space (Boston, MA), The Samek Art Museum at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), Receiver Gallery (San Francisco, CA), The New Art Center (Newton, MA), BMoCA (Boulder, CO), and Montserrat Galleries (Beverly, MA), among others.

In 2019, Meadows was invited to guest mentor at the Wyoming Arts Council's Annual Conference. In 2018 she served as Guest Juror for the University of Wyoming's Annual Student Exhibition. Meadows was the 2015 Curator-In-Residence at FLOAT: A Tactical Walking Camp, a program of The Luminary in St. Louis, MO. She was the recipient of the 2013 New England Museum Association (NEMA) University Products Award, an annual grant given to one curator in the New England region. In 2012, Meadows published, “Labors of Language: Crafting A Revival for Medium in Contemporary Art” and presented the project at the Critical Information Conference at the School of Visual Arts, New York.

Meadows has published articles in The American Alliance of Museums: The Center for the Future of Museums, Big Red & Shiny, and Art New England among several exhibition catalogues.