Contact Holly Martin-Bollard
Telephone 619-239-5548
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2016
Cell 619-987-6618
Email hmartin-bollard@timkenmuseum.org
Website www.timkenmuseum.org
DERRICK R. CARTWRIGHT JOINS NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM AT
TIMKEN MUSEUM OF ART
The Timken Museum of Art announced today the expansion of its ongoing partnership
with the University of San Diego. Through this enhancement, Derrick R. Cartwright,
PhD., art history professor and director of University Galleries at University of San Diego,
will also oversee the Timken Museum of Art’s curatorial program.
“Both the University and I are thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate with a worldclass museum, which the Timken most certainly is,” says Cartwright. “The curatorial,
educational and other programmatic opportunities we create as a result of this
partnership will aim for the highest possible quality and promise to have a profound
impact on the community, the Museum, and the students at USD.”
Cartwright joins recently appointed Executive Director, Megan Pogue, a 12-year San
Diego Symphony veteran, and newly elected Board President, recently-retired SDGE
Chairman Jessie J. Knight, Jr. to round out the Museum’s new leadership team.
“The Timken is positioned for a bright and stable future. I have been focused on
accomplishing this direction for several years,” says current Board President, Tim Zinn.
“Derrick’s artistic expertise combined with Megan’s solid business background is a
winning formula and a return to the Timken’s original model of operations. I leave my
tenure as Board President knowing the Timken is in very capable hands”.
Cartwright follows David Bull, an internationally renowned Art Conservator who stepped
in as Visiting Director in 2014 to oversee the Museum’s 50th anniversary year. In
addition to spearheading the Timken’s first major art acquisition in over 10 years,
Francis Zurbarán’s “St. Francis in Meditation” (1635), Bull curated two blockbuster
exhibitions for the Timken; Raphael’s The Madonna of the Pinks and Vermeer’s Woman
in Blue Reading a Letter.
Cartwright will begin his assignment in February by overseeing two previouslyscheduled special exhibitions in 2016; An Archaeologist’s Eye opening in April and
Bruegel, part of a Balboa Park-wide collaborative exhibition celebrating the San Diego
Zoo’s centennial, opening in September.
“I look forward to fulfilling the lofty goals of the projects that both David and John
[Wilson, the previous Timken director] initiated during their tenures,” said Cartwright.
“Working in tandem with Megan Pogue and Jessie J. Knight, Jr. towards establishing a
continuing, vibrant artistic vision for this important cultural resource is a privilege.”
Among the projects already under exploration, Cartwright mentions the inauguration of
a “Private Collections” series of temporary exhibitions, which will showcase works of art
rarely seen by the public, as well as solidifying an international Art Advisory Committee
initiated by Bull, who along with his wife, Art Conservator Teresa Longyear, will remain
closely involved with the Timken.
Cartwright has broad experience as a director of prestigious art museums: the Musée
d’Art Américan Giverny, the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, the San Diego
Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum. He has also curated more than 20
exhibitions during his career. In 2004, Cartwright curated Benjamin West: Allegory and
Allegiance for the Timken and, together with Hugh Davies and John Petersen, conceived
the region-wide project Behold, America!; Art of the United States from Three San Diego
Museums which opened in 2012.
About the Timken Museum of Art
Affectionately called San Diego’s “jewel box” of fine art, the Timken Museum of Art is
located in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park on the Plaza de Panama. It is the permanent
home of the Putnam Foundation’s significant collection of European old masters, 19th
century American art and Russian icons. Notable works in the collection include
Rembrandt's “Saint Bartholomew” (the only painting by the Dutch artist on public
display in San Diego); Pieter Bruegel the Elder's “Parable of the Sower;” John Singleton
Copley's “Portrait of Mrs. Thomas Gage;” Eastman Johnson's classic “The Cranberry
Harvest: Island of Nantucket;” and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's “View of Volterra.”
Known as one of the finest small museums in the world, the Timken provides visitors
with an accessible and enriching cultural experience featuring a beautiful collection,
intimate surroundings, and free admission.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays,
noon to 4:30 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and major holidays. For more information,
visit http://www.timkenmuseum.org. Follow the museum on Facebook or Twitter at
@TimkenMuseum or call (619) 239-5548.
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