Matthew McLendon, for more than two years the Curator of Academic Initiatives at CFAM, has accepted the position of the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL, effective January 18, 2010.

In his new position, Matthew will be forming a modern and contemporary exhibitions program for the Museum, a rare opportunity for even the most experienced curators. He will also help to form a new graduate level curatorial studies certificate and teach graduate art history seminars with  Florida  State University (his alma mater) which has overseen The Ringling since 2000.

In his two and a half years at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Matthew expanded the Museum’s educational programming to encompass all colleges and universities in the area as well as the general public. His gallery talks and tours, whether to individual classes, Museum members, or other groups, were always insightful and entertaining The research he brought to bear on the exhibitions he curated and co-curated at the Museum, including Portrait of a Lady, Michael Phillips and the Infernal Method of William Blake and the current Man and the Machine, clearly defined CFAM as a true teaching museum..  “My time at CFAM has been the most professionally fulfilling of my life,” said McLendon, “but I leave The Cornell knowing it is in a solid position and will continue its high standards.”  Matthew will be greatly missed at CFAM, but we wish him the best in this next phase of his career.