{"id":65470,"date":"2026-05-06T20:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65470"},"modified":"2026-05-06T20:22:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:22:25","slug":"laura-v-putnam-has-been-named-curator-of-exhibitions-for-the-ashley-gibson-barnett-museum-of-art-at-florida-southern-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/06\/laura-v-putnam-has-been-named-curator-of-exhibitions-for-the-ashley-gibson-barnett-museum-of-art-at-florida-southern-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura V. Putnam has been named curator of exhibitions for the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art at Florida Southern College"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a significant appointment for the local arts scene, especially given the museum’s current trajectory. Laura V. Putnam\u2019s move into the Curator of Exhibitions<\/strong> role at the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (The AGB)<\/strong> feels like a natural evolution, as she has been a foundational part of the institution since 2013.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Putnam isn’t just a familiar face; she brings a heavy-hitting academic and professional pedigree to the position:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Education:<\/strong> She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)<\/strong> and a Master\u2019s in Arts Administration from Boston University<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Dual Roles:<\/strong> In addition to her museum work, she serves as an Adjunct Professor<\/strong> of Art History and Museum Studies at Florida Southern College, bridging the gap between the classroom and the gallery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Experience:<\/strong> Before this promotion, she served as the Manager of Exhibitions and Adult Programs. She effectively stepped up to lead the curatorial vision following the departure of former director Dr. Alex Rich.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Recent Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you’ve visited the museum lately, you\u2019ve likely seen her influence. She has recently curated or overseen several high-profile shows, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Darkroom Alchemy: Photographs by Jerry Uelsmann<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Medici Dynasty: Renaissance in Florence<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Surreal Scenarios: The Art of Susanne Schuenke<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      The “New” Museum Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      The timing of this appointment is crucial. The museum\u2014which rebranded from the Polk Museum of Art<\/strong> in 2024 following a transformational gift from the Barnett family\u2014is in the middle of a massive 14,000-square-foot expansion<\/strong>.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      With the new wing expected to open in Fall 2026<\/strong>, Putnam will be the one driving the creative vision for that significantly larger footprint. It\u2019s a “promotion from within” that suggests the museum is leaning into its institutional knowledge while preparing for a much bigger regional spotlight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This is a significant appointment for the local arts scene, especially given the museum’s current trajectory. Laura V. Putnam\u2019s move into the Curator of Exhibitions role at the Ashley Gibson… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"6","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTUtMS53ZWJwP2ZpdD0yNzUlMkMxODMmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYXVyYSBWLiBQdXRuYW0gaGFzIGJlZW4gbmFtZWQgY3VyYXRvciBvZiBleGhpYml0aW9ucyBmb3IgdGhlIEFzaGxleSBHaWJzb24gQmFybmV0dCBNdXNldW0gb2YgQXJ0IGF0IEZsb3JpZGEgU291dGhlcm4gQ29sbGVnZSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.6oVOuUWd358z30jR-cBSD1UzRJ11G9iecUH3T4HTwfAMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9kb3dubG9hZC01LTEud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkxhdXJhIFYuIFB1dG5hbSBoYXMgYmVlbiBuYW1lZCBjdXJhdG9yIG9mIGV4aGliaXRpb25zIGZvciB0aGUgQXNobGV5IEdpYnNvbiBCYXJuZXR0IE11c2V1bSBvZiBBcnQgYXQgRmxvcmlkYSBTb3V0aGVybiBDb2xsZWdlIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.vnZdAYYHrrSWQ-DO68A9y5mEH5mcnMk2TFT-n2wY-H8MQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[14560],"class_list":["post-65470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-laura-v-putnam-has-been-named-curator-of-exhibitions-for-the-ashley-gibson-barnett-museum-of-art-at-florida-southern-college"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65472,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65470\/revisions\/65472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}