Todd J. Tubutis has been named associate director of the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“We are thrilled that Todd will take on the important role of associate director at such a pivotal time for Sheldon,” said Wally Mason, director of the museum. “With his extensive knowledge and successful background in museum management and curatorial initiatives, Todd will guide Sheldon in strategic planning and furthering the digitization of its permanent collection.”
Tubutis comes to Lincoln from Portland, Ore., where he served as executive director of Blue Sky, a nonprofit gallery dedicated to the presentation of international contemporary photography.
Most recently, he curated the exhibition “Conflict and Consequence: Photographing War and Its Aftermath” at the Wright Museum of Art at Beloit College. The exhibition presents the work of 14 photographers who have dedicated their practice as journalists, documentarians and artists to recording the social and political complexities of wartime.
Tubutis was previously exhibition project director at the Field Museum in Chicago, where he led the design and institutional strategy teams for more than 20 temporary and permanent exhibitions of varied scope and subject matter, including “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years – Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library,” “Maps: Finding Our Place in the World,” “From Prairie to Field: Photographs by Terry Evans” and “Evolving Planet.”
Prior to joining the Field Museum in 2001, Tubutis was responsible for the development and administration of an adult-education seminars program at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
He has taught and conducted research in cultural and visual anthropology in the U.S., Canada and Hungary, and has contributed articles and reviews to Wisconsin Academy Review, Visual Anthropology, Exhibitionist, Exposure, Time Out Chicago and the Encyclopedia of Chicago.
Tubutis earned a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of British Columbia. For his thesis, he examined Native American participation in Jim Jarmsuch’s 1996 feature film “Dead Man.” Tubutis received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and museum studies from Beloit College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with departmental honors.
Sheldon Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects in a landmark Philip Johnson building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus. Sheldon is open free to the public during regular hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Monday. For more information, visit http://www.sheldonartmuseum.org.
