Oral history interview with Susanne Ghez
name: label: Interviewee
content: Ghez, Susanne
label: Interviewer
content: Richards, Judith Olch
label: Creator
content: Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project
label: Names
content: David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project
label: Names
content: University of Chicago. Renaissance Society
label: Names
content: Enwezor, Okwui
label: Names
content: Flood, Richard G., 1949-
label: Names
content: Paschke, Ed
label: Names
content: Reid, Katharine Lee
label: Names
content: Rorimer, Anne
label: Names
content: Spector, Buzz
topic: label: Occupation
content: Arts administrators -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Occupation
content: Curators -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Occupation
content: Museum directors -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
label: Topic
content: Women arts administrators
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Ghez, Susanne
label: Interviewer
content: Richards, Judith Olch
label: Creator
content: Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Susanne Ghez (1937- ) is a museum director at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Ill. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Items (Sound recording, master: 4 memory cards (4 hr., 53 min.), secure digital, 1.25 in.)
label: Extent
content: 84 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2011 Jan. 25-26
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ghez11
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Susanne Ghez conducted 2011 Jan. 25 and 26, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, at the Renaissance Society, in Chicago, Ill.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Ghez discusses her work for the Renaissance Society in Chicago; the Renaissance Society's involvement with European artists; taking risks; the importance of "programming first"; attention to Chicago area artists; a mix of local, national, and international programming; complementary programming with the Smart Museum of Art; audiences; the relationship between the Renaissance Center and the University of Chicago; installation issues; improved outreach to students; working on "Documenta 11," including the experience of co-curating with Okwui Enwezor and travelling to visit artists; exhibitions coming out of the "Documenta experience"; changes in curatorial practices; recommendations for aspiring curators; her retirement and succession plans; projects as an independent curator; art collectors in Chicago; serving on advisory committees; organizing thematic exhibitions; the importance of "belief" and "trust," and other topics. She recalls Anne Rorimer, Richard Flood, Buzz Spector, Katharine Lee Reid, James Coleman, Benjamin Buchloh, Ed Paschke, and others.