Spencer Wigmore joined Mia in 2025 as the Patrick and Aimee Butler Associate Curator of American Paintings. Previously, he was Curator of Fine Art at the Minnesota Historical Society, where he led a period of unprecedented growth for the institution’s collection of historic and contemporary Minnesota art. Between 2018 and 2023, he was a member of the curatorial team at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. At the Carter, he assisted with the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection and curated numerous exhibitions, including “Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie” and “Arthur Dove: Miniature Laboratories.” He is the co-author of Carter Handbook and the editor of the forthcoming inaugural volume of Carter Bulletin.
Wigmore’s own research interests center on 19th-century landscape painting in the United States, with a particular focus on histories of real estate and natural resource extraction. His doctoral dissertation and current book project centers on the landscape painter Albert Bierstadt and his second life as a mining speculator in the American West. Wigmore earned his BA in art history at Carleton College and his PhD from the University of Delaware. He is the recipient of a Wyeth Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.