In this white and black photo is a couple laying down on the ground. The woman has a tanning reflector in her hands with her eyes closed. — Burk Uzzle, American, born 1938, Untitled, c. 1970, gelatin silver print, Gift of Stephen Daiter 92.113.1 © Burk Uzzle

Friends Lecture: Leslie Ureña

With generous support from the Mark and Mary Goff Fiterman Fund, the Friends of the Institute present Leslie Ureña and “Shifting Focus: Curating Across Borders”.

Leslie Ureña joined Mia’s department of Global Contemporary Art in early 2023 as associate curator of global contemporary art. She curates across mediums to research and further expand the collection’s global scope. In this lecture, Ureña will discuss the trajectory of her curatorial practice, the discoveries she has made since arriving at Mia, and her recent installation of the Harrison Gallery.

A woman with dark hair is wearing a blue dress. She is smiling towards the camera as she leans on the wall.

Ureña’s research and museum work has focused on migration, trans-national art practices, and photography as an agent of social change. Prior to her arrival at Mia, Ureña was curator of photographs at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where she organized numerous exhibitions of photography and contemporary art, including co-curating “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today.” She has also worked in curatorial departments at the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Dallas Museum of Art, among others; taught art history courses in Washington, D.C., as well as in Taipei, Taiwan, where she led the international team of an emerging art gallery.

_{Burk Uzzle, American, born 1938, Untitled, c. 1970, gelatin silver print, Gift of Stephen Daiter 92.113.1 © Burk Uzzle}