New Emily Pulitzer endowment brings new curator to St Louis Art Museum

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis Art Museum has added a new position named for Emily Pulitzer.

Jorge Rivas was named the museum’s inaugural Emily Rauh Pulitzer Deputy Director and Chief Curator earlier this week.

This newly created position, made possible by the generous commitment of museum trustee and former Art Museum curator Emily Rauh Pulitzer, will oversee the museum’s curatorial, collection and exhibition departments.

"The position is funded by a $10 million endowment from Emily Ruah Pulitzer," said Cat Neville, Vice President of Communications for Explore St Louis. "She actually was the curator of the Art Museum beginning in 1964. She is not just an art lover, she really is supporting the arts foundation."

Rivas joins the St. Louis Art Museum from the Denver Art Museum, where he has served since 2016 as the Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art and Head of the Mayer Center. He will begin his new role in St. Louis in October 2024.

“I am deeply honored to join the Saint Louis Art Museum and to build upon the extraordinary legacy of Emily Rauh Pulitzer and the many other museum professionals who have made the museum a leader in the field,” Rivas said in a statement from the Art Museum.

As part of Rivas future role, he will oversee eight curatorial departments, as well as the Art Preparation and Installation, Conservation, Registration and Exhibition departments at the museum.

"He is going to have this very broad scope in terms of being able to oversee new areas of collecting and overseeing art as well as making sure the Art Museum is poised to connect with and bring new audiences to the museum in the coming years," said Neville.