For Anna Marley, visiting the Toledo Museum of Art to speak about an exhibition she created in Pennsylvania felt like finding the perfect match on a dating app.
“It was like walking into a party, meeting someone, and just really liking them,” she said of her April visit. “It just felt like I could help the Toledo Museum of Art team get to where they wanted to be.”
Come September, Marley will take on the role of director of curatorial affairs at TMA, where she will lead the curatorial and interpretation teams to tell the stories of global art history.
“I absolutely fell in love with the collection and the institution,” Marley said in an interview. “And I guess they fell in love with me, too.”
She comes to Toledo after spending 15 years at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, first as a curator and then becoming chief of curatorial affairs in 2021. PAFA is the oldest art school and museum in the United States, founded in 1805, and it exclusively showcases American art.
During her more than a decade in the City of Brotherly Love, she curated 16 exhibitions that toured the United States including notable ones on Henry Ossawa Tanner, among the first African American artists to receive widespread acclaim around the turn of the 20th century; Thomas Eakins, a polymath and pioneer in the art of photography who taught at the academy long ago; and William Trost Richards, a landscape artist from the Hudson River School.
Visiting the Toledo museum that first time, she felt like an art history student again and was in awe of the collection, which is more than twice the size of PAFA’s.
“I think it's one of the best museums in the United States,” Marley said, noting that she’s also impressed by TMA’s education programs and that it’s free to the public.
While the role is an expansion for Marley, she will also help expand the museum’s strategy efforts, said TMA Deputy Director Andrea Gardner.
“I’m excited to see her grow,” Gardner said. “I think she's going to be a really great partner to help us kind of push ourselves to the next level.”
A Montreal native, Marley studied art history at Vassar College in New York and later pursued a master's degree in museum studies from the University of Southern California and doctoral studies in American art at the University of Delaware.
“I'm really looking for her to step in with a lot of leadership and guidance expertise,” Gardner said. “She's got a really strong background to grow new leaders in the field.”
Being a curator is a way to help people understand their lives through the stories of the past, Marley explained.
“You are kind of an interpreter for these objects for anybody who comes to a museum,” she said. “You can unlock the stories and share the stories that help people connect to the past: their own past or pasts of different millennia.”
The curator said a part of her will always be left with the work she did in eastern Pennsylvania.
Apart from the exhibitions she worked on, she added numerous works to the museum’s collection including pieces from Edward Bannister, George Beck, Albert Bierstadt, Mary Cassatt, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Lillian Westcott Hale, Harriet Hosmer, May Howard Jackson, Thomas Moran, Lily Martin Spencer, and Patience Wright.
“While I am sad to leave the wonderful artistic community of Philadelphia, I will always be grateful for my 15 years of learning and growing at PAFA, and I’ll miss all the dedicated and passionate people I’ve had the good fortune to work with,” Marley said in a statement. “I am particularly grateful to our national trustee Kenneth R. Woodcock for endowing the position of Curator of Historical American Art so that the interpretation and care of PAFA's remarkable collection will continue beyond my time at the institution."
Kevin Donohoe, a longtime PAFA board member and former chairman, commended Marley for broadening PAFA’s collection through new acquisitions.
Though known for its longevity, the institution has had its share of recent struggles, announcing earlier this year that it was shuttering the degree-granting arm of its post-secondary art school due to rising costs, expanding requirements, and dwindling enrollment.
“She made a big impact in plugging a hole in the collection ... and also broadening our collection of women American artists and African American artists,” Donahoe said in an interview.
That diversity of artists, time periods, and places is an important consideration for the curator.
“I am committed to working with contemporary artists, as well as connecting the past into the future and doing innovative curatorial work where we question our history, and we are as open and welcoming as possible,” Marley said. “I know that I'll bring a spirit of excitement and openness and hard work.”
Donohoe said he hopes to visit TMA soon and to continue working with Marley through collaborations with PAFA. He added that Toledo is lucky to bring in Marley’s knowledge, talent, and leadership.
“She just brings a wealth of talent and experience and connections,” he said. “She is a pleasure to work with. Donors like her. The museum world likes her. You know, what's not to like?”
Eric Pryor, president and CEO of PAFA, agreed that Marley’s knowledge and expertise will be missed.
"Anna's departure is a bittersweet moment for us as we see her move on to such an esteemed role at the Toledo Museum of Art. Her contributions to PAFA have been immeasurable, and her influence will be felt for many years to come,” Pryor said in a statement. “Anna has been a beacon of excellence, and we look forward to watching her continue to succeed and soar to new heights. She will be quite missed, but heartily applauded from Philadelphia."
Overall though, Marley sees her upcoming tenor at TMA as an open book.
"I am honored to join the Toledo Museum of Art,” said Marley. “The collection, the curatorial team, and the community are second to none, and I am excited to be part of the leadership team at such a renowned, welcoming, inclusive and innovative institution.”
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