James Rondeau
A visionary leader and renowned curator, James has made the museum his professional home for nearly three decades, dedicated to advancing its mission to connect visitors to world-class global collections in fresh, innovative, and relevant ways.
Since his appointment in 2016, James has led the museum through periods of tremendous reflection, evolution, and growth.
He has supported pivotal acquisitions across all curatorial areas, appointed renowned scholars to lead eight of the eleven curatorial teams, and overseen the transformation of galleries devoted to the arts of the Americas, Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. James has also pioneered the museum’s role as a profoundly civic place of gathering and is a dedicated advocate for training and mentorship programs for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the arts.
James began his time with the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 as associate curator of contemporary art. From 2004 through 2016, he served as Dittmer Chair and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and defined the museum’s internationally respected collection of global contemporary art—one that continues to grow in size and regard. He led the installation of this collection with the opening of the Modern Wing in 2009, and in 2015 he realized the largest gift of art in the museum’s history, the Edlis | Neeson Collection, a transformative addition of 44 post-war artworks. James has also organized and contributed to a host of critically acclaimed exhibitions and installations and raised the museum’s profile as a leading presenter of emerging and lesser-known artists.
In addition to lecturing and publishing widely, James has also been awarded many professional honors and has served on various advisory councils and boards, including as a board member of the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and as the commissioner and co-curator of the US Pavilion at the 49th Venice Biennale featuring artist Robert Gober. He has served as a mentor for the Center for Curatorial Leadership and as a visiting faculty member at the University of Illinois, Chicago and Northwestern University. James earned his bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a master’s degree in the history of art from Williams College.
