Vergne out at Walker, former Walker curator Armstrong in at MIA

In conjunction with the news that Walker chief curator Philippe Vergne is leaving for New York's Dia Center, I heard the rumor that former Walkerite Elizabeth Armstrong would be coming back to Minneapolis. She is -- but, surprisingly, not to the Walker.

Armstrong, current Deputy Director for Programs and Chief Curator at the Orange County Museum of Art outside LA, has been hired as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' Assistant Director for Exhibitions and Programs and Curator of Contemporary Art. (Minneapolitans may remember Ultrabaroque, her traveling show of Latin American art that made its way to the Walker a few years back. She also co-curated the Walker's wildly popular Fluxus show of 1993, among others.)

Here's the first bit of the MIA's press release:

Minneapolis, MN, June 24, 2008 – The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) today announced the appointment of Elizabeth Neilson Armstrong as its new Assistant Director for Exhibitions and Programs and Curator of Contemporary Art. Recognized for her long record of innovative exhibitions and publications, Armstrong currently serves as Deputy Director for Programs and Chief Curator at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California. Armstrong, who will be a member of the MIA's senior management team, assumes her new position at the MIA in August 2008.

"Ms. Armstrong's extensive experience in exhibitions, programs, and management is a great addition to the MIA, as we plan for the future," said Kaywin Feldman, Director and President of the MIA. "We are very happy to have this talented museum leader join us during a time of strategic change and growth. With Ms. Armstrong on board, we are excited about expanding our contemporary art programming and further invigorating our historic collections by making new connections to contemporary world cultures."

Armstrong's previous positions include Acting Director and Chief Curator at the Orange County Museum of Art; Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego; Associate Curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; Curatorial Assistant at the Lowie Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley, California; Research Assistant at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Grants Administrator at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

During her career, Armstrong has been responsible for developing highly successful publications, exhibitions and related programs, including Ultrabaroque: Aspects of Post-Latin American Art (2000), three California Biennials (2002, 2004, 2006), Girl's Night Out (2003), Mary Heilmann Retrospective (2007), and Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury (2007). In addition, Armstrong was the organizing curator for American Moderns: Villa America, 1900–1950, which was an innovative and well-received paintings exhibition on view at the MIA in 2005–6.