Courtenay Finn Joins Crystal Bridges as Chief Curator

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary have appointed Courtenay Finn as Chief Curator, as the institution enters a new phase following the opening of its 114,000-square-foot expansion in June 2026.

Finn will join the Bentonville, Arkansas-based institution on 24 August 2026, where she will lead the curatorial team across Crystal Bridges and the Momentary. Her responsibilities will include overseeing collection development, exhibitions, artist engagement, audience programming, and art activations across the museum’s 134-acre campus.

She joins Crystal Bridges from the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in California, where she served as Chief Curator and Director of Programs. During her tenure, Finn helped launch the museum’s new Morphosis-designed building and developed an exhibition programme that contributed to attendance increasing by more than 200%, attracting significant numbers of first-time museum visitors.

At OCMA, Finn oversaw the acquisition of more than 100 works for the museum’s collection, including major gifts by Joan Brown, Derek Fordjour, Luchita Hurtado and Yoshitomo Nara. She also curated exhibitions including 2025 California Biennial: Desperate, Scared, But Social, Deux Femmes: Leonor Fini & Leonora Carrington, Alice Neel: Feels Like Home, Tony Lewis: CASUAL T, Yu Ji: A Guest, a Host, a Ghost, and Fred Eversley: Reflecting Back (the World). Before joining OCMA, she held curatorial positions at moCa Cleveland, the Aspen Art Museum, and Art in General in New York.

Speaking about the appointment, Finn said:

“I am thrilled to be joining the incredible team at Crystal Bridges, especially at this moment of growth and expansion. I have watched the extraordinary work being done since the museum’s founding and I am excited to build on our shared commitment to exhibitions, programs, and initiatives that increase access, spark curiosity, and transform and expand traditional narratives.”

She added that she looks forward to working with the museum’s staff, board and wider community to strengthen connections between artists and audiences across Arkansas and beyond.

Finn will report to Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs Austen Bailly and will join the institution’s Executive Council.

The appointment forms part of a wider expansion of Crystal Bridges’ executive leadership. The museum also announced Ryan Owen as Chief Development Officer, who joined on 15 June, and Shayne Hart as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, who has led the institution’s brand, marketing and communications since February 2026.

Executive Director Rod Bigelow said the three appointments arrive at “a transformative moment for the institution”, adding that their combined expertise will help guide Crystal Bridges and the Momentary through their next phase of growth and expand the organisations’ impact.

Founded by philanthropist Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges opened in 2011 and has welcomed more than 15 million visitors while maintaining free admission. Its recently completed expansion significantly increases gallery, learning and public space, marking one of the most substantial developments in the museum’s history.