Daphne Anderson Deeds

Professional History

Daphne Anderson Deeds has been an art museum professional and fine art consultant for more than twenty-five years. She has held progressively responsible positions at the private and civic museums, including the De Young Museum, the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago, the University of Arizona Museum of Art, and Yale University Art Gallery. Her experience entails extensive knowledge of administrative and curatorial practices, as well as working closely with board members, faculty, development officers, conservators, designers, publishers and artists. While primarily a scholar of American modernism, Ms. Deeds has organized more than seventy exhibitions and written more than fifty articles and catalogues on diverse periods, from colonial to contemporary.

Ms. Deeds is an alumna of The Westlake School for Girls in Beverly Hills, (now Harvard-Westlake). She received her BA in Art History at the University of California at Berkeley, where she was awarded the Torch and Shield Award for women with specific career goals. While an undergraduate, she was an Intern at the Guggenheim Museum. Ms. Deeds continued her study of art history as a doctoral student with Dr. Richard Shiff at the University of Chicago. At Chicago she was awarded a Fellowship for Academic Achievement, and she was employed as Assistant Curator under the esteemed Katherine Lee Reid at the Smart Museum. Ms. Deeds has attended the American Legal Institute-American Bar Association course of study, “Legal Problems of Museum Administration”, and she has completed coursework at the Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. She is an elected member of the New York City chapter of Arttable, and has been a gubernatorial appointee to the Connecticut State Library Board, and an Associate Fellow of Jonathan Edwards College of Yale University.

Download Curriculum Vitae

Contact

Location

Litchfield, Connecticut

Phone

860.989.7719

Email

daphneadeeds@gmail.com

Testimonials

Daphne is a long time colleague whose work as a curator, writer, and administrator is exemplary. She has an unusually complete set of skills—including great powers of persuasion. Her qualifications are sterling.

Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation

Rarely in the world of art does one combine passion for the subject, in all its forms and with all its possibilities, an imaginative and inspiring approach to curating, high academic achievement, publications of merit, strategic acumen and financial and administrative nous, in the way epitomized by Daphne Deeds. It’s no wonder she is as cherished by artists as she is respected by museum professionals, collectors, donors and colleagues. Her warmth, humour and integrity are icing on the cake.

Susan Ferleger Brades, FORMER Director, The Hayward Gallery, London

Working with Daphne Anderson Deeds as co-curator of the CMCA 2012 Biennial Exhibition was a true pleasure. Daphne is a consummate art professional, who brought her discerning eye, aesthetic curiosity, and solid knowledge of art history to the project. She assisted with reviewing over 400 individual submissions from which the final 17 artists were selected and she was hands-on throughout the installation process. The result is an exhibition that has received praise from both visitors and critics. I very much look forward to the opportunity to work with Daphne again on future exhibition projects.

Suzette McAvoy, Director, CMCA, Center for Maine Contemporary Art

It was a great pleasure working with Daphne to develop the content for the website of artist Fay Lansner. She incorporated her deep knowledge of art history, stellar research skills, expert eye and elegant writing to both curate the artwork and write several essays for the site www.FayLansner.com. As importantly as her expertise, she approached the project with great passion and enthusiasm.

Erica Lansner, Co-Director, FayLansnerArt, LLC

My association with Daphne at the Yale University Art Gallery led me to invite her as a visiting critic for reviews in both the Visual Studies and Freehand Drawing courses that I taught at the School of Architecture. Daphne has proven to be an excellent critic with the thoughtfulness of comment that reveals her skills as a teacher. One of Daphne’s greatest skills is her interest and ability to pursue the arts in interdisciplinary fields. Her comments were perceptive and as germane to architects as I’m sure they would be to anyone in the arts. Her expansive knowledge of all the arts is evident in her thoughts.

William Butler III, Senior Partner, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, New Haven, Connecticut

Daphne is a scholar of American modernism who writes well and with ease. She is able to fashion an exhibition catalogue essay that both interprets the art in ways that are accessible to undergraduates who have not studied art history and at the same time places the art in an art historical context. Working with her is a pleasure.

Professor Gary Haller, Master of Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University 1996-2009

Daphne is that type of leader who knows what it takes to keep arts organizations relevant in our ever changing world.

Billy Fong, Senior Development Manager, High Art Museum, Former Director, Texas Museum Association

Daphne Anderson Deeds has remarkable strength as an art writer and critic. Her keen eye is combined with an expansive knowledge of art history and an ability to convey her ideas in succinct prose. She wrote on our Aaron Siskind show with insight and grace, and she is a tremendous asset to our community.

James Barron, James Barron Art, Kent, Connecticut

Daphne Deeds is a stellar curator who excels in creating imaginative, engaging exhibitions. Her skills in overseeing our museum’s curatorial and education departments were exemplary, acknowledging the professional expertise of every one of our staff members!

Karen Janovy, former Curator of Education, Sheldon Art Museum

Daphne is a consummate professional who I trust to guide my clients with artists estates and museum exhibitions. She has a wealth of skills and knowledge and provides her expertise with charm. She is a joy to work with.

Kenise Barnes, Kenise Barnes Fine Art