Utah Museum of Fine Art’s Emily Lawhead in the galleries hosting “Pictures of Belonging.” Photo by Simon Blundell.

“I see curation as a very collaborative process,” says Emily Lawhead, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Off the bat, it’s clear that Lawhead’s approach to curation is abundantly refreshing and crystal clear. To Lawhead, curation is a communal practice, enlisting the aid of experts across multiple fields and departments, and an artist’s voice should be the one to shine through the works on the UMFA’s walls, not her own. “I see myself as kind of helping to steer … I feel like when I do my job right my voice is barely even there,” she says.

Lawhead’s love for working collaboratively and directly with artists is anything but recent. During her master’s in Museum Studies at the University of San Francisco, Lawhead curated a capstone exhibition, Hidden Landscapes: Yasuaki Onishi, where she first experienced the vitalities of working hand in hand with artists while displaying their works. “That experience of getting to ask the artists directly the questions that I had, rather than speculating on what they were thinking because they’ve been dead for 100 years, was incredible.” Additionally, while on a granted study abroad in Japan during her undergraduate studies at the University of Northern Arizona, Lawhead was able to work directly with installation and new media artists in her studies of Japanese and Japanese-American art. “Through that [experience], I  have developed relationships with artists and have gotten to talk to them about what they mean in their work, like why they are doing what they are doing. I can talk until I’m blue in the face about the history of technology, I have my expertise in Japanese and Japanese-American art, and I have research abilities, but after that, if I want to make a publication I would actually rather work with somebody that is an expert in a particular field to advance their voice. … I always see it as a collective practice between myself and an artist.” These foundations of personal connections with artists carried Lawhead through her PhD in Museum Studies at the University of Oregon, where Lawhead made the definitive stride toward a career in museums.

Lawhead’s first year at the UMFA has been nothing short of productive and passionate. “I was just immediately really excited about this museum,” she says about accepting the position last January. “Even from initially corresponding with the staff here, it was so welcoming … the atmosphere was immediately really positive. I felt very much at home.”

As the lead curator for Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo, up at the UMFA through June 30, Lawhead was able to flex her expertise in Japanese-American art. Featuring the works of “three of the most active and visible female artists of Japanese descent of the pre-World War II generations,” Pictures of Belonging, strives to critically cultivate the American art historical cannon (see our review). It is a traveling exhibition, and Lawhead says she is both honored to work with its curator, ShiPu Wang, and to be the first host for its 5-city tour. “We do a lot to make sure representation is balanced,” she says about her work at the UMFA. “This exhibition is expanding the narrative in an imperative way.”

Coming from a rural upbringing, Lawhead holds a deep appreciation for the moderate size of the UMFA and its role as an affiliate museum on the university campus, which allows her to stay engaged in both the academic and museum worlds. “I decided I really loved the smaller mid-sized museum realm. I’m used to wearing a lot of hats, but there is something about the kind of collaboration and the kind of things that are possible with a team that’s big enough to do big projects, but small enough where I can just pop into somebody office and ask ‘What do you think about this?’ and the decision is made.” As someone who worked in museums during her undergraduate studies, Lawhead additionally finds the connection between the UMFA and the University of Utah to be a vital asset for students, something about which she is personally passionate.

“Pictures of Belonging,” featuring works by three modernist Japanese-American artists, is one of Lawhead’s first projects at the UMFA. Images courtesy the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

An art gallery interior featuring large, dark walls with diverse artworks including a central abstract painting with splashes of blue and yellow, and smaller paintings depicting figures on the side walls.

As the museum’s newest curator of modern and contemporary art, Lawhead also holds a deep appreciation for the UMFA’s approach to contemporary curation in connection to its mission to decolonize the museum. “The focus on modern and contemporary programming in this museum is really, really incredible. We have a global scope collection and we do a lot of great work with all of it, but I appreciate this weaving of modern and contemporary, which is this other critical part of how we are thinking about the entire collection.” Modern and contemporary works are featured in most areas of the museum, including in its geographic galleries, which showcase a full scope of artwork produced from its corresponding origins and reveal active work produced by the UMFA to dismantle colonization practices. “The museum is focused on social justice and decolonization practices,” comments Lawhead. “Even immediately when I came to do interviews I could see that this museum is working on inclusivity. I was very impressed.” The UMFA holds active partnerships with the communities, individuals, and organizations that it represents, has open discussions on how works were acquired into its collections, and holds discourse on whether or not those pieces should remain in addition to the mindful presentation of works within its galleries. “I wanted to be part of those conversations from the beginning, I was very excited,” says Lawhead.

Curation is an essential function in furthering the act of dismantling harmful museum practices and to Lawhead, conscious and collaborative curation is necessary. “I think that’s an important part, being aware of how dynamics function in our society, and how that has led to a lot of underrepresentation of artists from these walls. … It’s a process, but it’s one I really, really value to ensure that I’m working with the artists I need to be working with and that I can be sure their hopes and dreams become true in this space rather than my hopes and dreams,” says Lawhead. “I’ve never seen myself as an end-all, be-all, tip of the iceberg curator that is going to just like say, ‘This is what we are doing’ or ‘This is what this means’ … I often work really closely with an artist, especially an artist who is thinking about an experience that is so important to have in this museum on which I don’t have the authority to say.”

In addition to the Pictures of Belonging exhibition, Lawhead has been in charge of relaunching the UMFA’s longtime salt series, which has only staged one exhibition since the pandemic.“The focus of the entire salt program is to give an emerging contemporary artist often their very first museum exhibition … it gives an opportunity for us to be a bit more experimental with things because it’s not all necessarily going into our permanent collection.” The exploratory series allows the museum to represent artists at a paramount moment in their careers, having supported now big-name artists such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The series further allows the museum to mindfully acquire works into the collection, boosting the museum’s contemporary programming and expanding the collection’s represented cannon. “I’m excited and passionate about making sure that we can support artists at this crucial moment, this crucial point in their career where they deserve recognition and they are ready to take that next very professional step.” The next iteration of salt, which will open in November, will feature Arleene Correa Valencia, an interdisciplinary artist from the San Francisco Bay area.

“We have had beautiful experiences with art in the galleries,” Lawhead says of this spring. “From bringing community together for the 2024 Topaz Art Pilgrimage to deeply personal connections through the gift of song”—during this past month, another Lawhead project has been hosted at the UMFA—performances of Lee Mingwei’s “Sonic Blossom,” in which museum visitors experience an impromptu gift of song from professional performers.

It is clear that Lawhead has a compelling future planned at the UMFA and patrons should have her locked in their radars. Her success, she recognizes, is because of the team she is working with. “There is absolutely no way that I could launch anything if I didn’t have their support,” she says of her colleagues. “I couldn’t be more honored to work with these incredible artists, singers, colleagues, and communities here in Utah. And I am excited for all the work still to come.”

Avery Greig

Avery Greig always has something to contribute. Whether lost in an art exhibition, meandering in downtown salt lake, or haunting a museum, she always has something to say when it comes to art. With her BA in Art History from the University of Utah, she loves sharing her passions for art and writing wrapped up in one.