Live Virtual Q&A with Ursula von Rydingsvard & Daniel Traub, Filmmaker of URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: INTO HER OWN

Molly Donovan is curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art. Her current exhibition, Lynda Benglis will be on view in the Gallery’s East Building until April 2021. Molly’s recent show featuring the work of British sculptor Rachel Whiteread, an exhibition on which she collaborated with Tate Britain, opened in London in 2017 before travelling to Vienna, Austria, Washington, and ultimately to the St. Louis Art Museum in 2019. Among Molly’s numerous exhibitions are: In the Tower: Barbara Kruger (2016 – 2017); Warhol: Headlines, which opened in Washington in 2011 before it travelled to Frankfurt, and Rome, before closing in Pittsburgh in 2013; and Christo and Jeanne Claude’s in the Vogel Collection in Washington and La Jolla in 2002. In 2016, Molly inaugurated thematic installations for the contemporary collection of the National Gallery that include “Bodies of Work,” “Flow,” and “Markers and Signs.” Molly’s acquisitions for the National Gallery of Art have reshaped its collection to include more living artists, particularly women and people of color. She has initiated several innovative commissions at the Gallery, including Roxy Paine’s Graft (2009) for the National Gallery Sculpture Garden, and Leo Villareal’s LED sculpture, Multiverse (2008) in the moving walkway between the East and West buildings. Her book, The Andy Goldsworthy Project (2010) documents the British artist’s site-specific installation, Roof (2004-2005), for the Gallery’s East Building, the first commissioned work for the building in 25 years. Molly has written and lectured on numerous artists (in addition to the aforementioned) – including Janine Antoni, Byron Kim, Kimsooja, Glenn Ligon, Richard Tuttle, and Ursula von Rydingsvard – and on the subject of art in public space. She has been a National Peer with GSA’s Design Excellence Program for Art in Architecture since 2000, and serves on the Advisory Panel for Halcyon Arts Lab and Transformer.

She holds a Master of Arts degree with a concentration in 20th century art from the Graduate Program in the History of Art at Williams College, and a BA in English from Georgetown University.