New Employee Profile: Jodi Rodgers

In March the museum hired Jodi Rodgers as our next Curator of Collections and Director of Engagement. Now that Jodi has had some time to settle into those roles we’re sharing a little Q&A to help our audience get to know her a bit.

Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of your career path before arriving at Middlebury? Which position(s) has/have best prepared you to succeed in your new role?

In my new position at Middlebury, I teach students, develop exhibitions, and expand the collection, building on years of curatorial experience at the Cantor Center at Stanford University, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Yale University Art Gallery.

What project from your past would you be most excited to share?

The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917 exhibition will open at the Yale University Art Gallery in September 2024. The exhibition, with an accompanying catalogue, explores the American Renaissance, a pivotal yet neglected period in American history, that inspired an ambitious generation of artists to develop a new form of civic art that captivated a divided nation. My research offers new insights into the creative and culture context for Edwin Austin Abbey’s mural practice, from the laboring body in an age of expanding industrialization to the relationship between the natural environment, art, and technology at the turn of the twentieth century.

What sorts of opportunities does an academic museum in particular offer that other museums or cultural organizations perhaps cannot?

A single work of art can be used to teach subjects as diverse as classics, environmental studies, psychology, and political science. I am inspired by how Middlebury faculty and students use the museum collections to advance critical concepts and learning goals.

What’s your most ambitious goal for your first year at Middlebury?

I am excited to redesign the student employment program at the Middlebury College Museum of Art and to curate engaging exhibitions with students.

What makes people visit and return to a museum? How do you think museums, especially someone in your position, can best engage an audience?

I envision the museum as a hub for Middlebury students’ social lives—a place where they feel welcome. As curator, I continue to develop student and faculty partnerships across campus to foster a more engaging space for the entire community and to raise awareness of the museum programs.