Caitlin Murray on March 10 was named the next executive director of the Chinati Foundation, the Marfa, Texas, museum founded by renowned Minimal artist Donald Judd. She succeeds Jenny Moore, who led the foundation for nearly a decade before departing this past summer to serve as the inaugural director of Bozeman, Montana’s Tinworks. Murray, who arrives from the Judd Foundation in New York, which she has led since 2008, will assume her role in mid-May.
“The museum’s mission is to continue to implement and preserve Donald Judd’s vision for art, landscape and architecture in Marfa,” Mack Fowler and Annabelle Selldorf, respectively chair and co-chair of the Chinati Foundation’s board of trustees said, in a statement. “We believe that Murray will fulfill that mission with excellence, passion, and enthusiasm. We are also certain that Murray’s leadership will continue to enhance audiences’ experiences with Judd in Marfa.”
While at the Judd Foundation, Murray oversaw the organization of Judd’s archives: the two-year project is expected to be completed this fall. She served as coeditor on the crucial compendiums Donald Judd: Writings (2016) and Donald Judd: Interviews (2019). Among the shows she organized at the artist’s former residence and studio at 101 Spring Street are those featuring the work of Alvar Alto, John Chamberlain, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Yayoi Kusama, Richard Long, David Novros, James Rosenquist, Lauretta Vinciarelli, and Meg Webster, as well as that of Judd.
“I am honored by the opportunity to deepen my engagement with Donald Judd’s legacy at the Chinati Foundation and to lead this extraordinary artist-founded and artist-centered organization,” said Murray in a statement. “Working with Flavin and Rainer Judd and the board and staff of Judd Foundation during the last fifteen years has given me the opportunity to understand Judd’s range as an artist, and his commitment to art, architecture, design, politics, and the natural world. As executive director, I look forward to working with a group of friends and supporters who share my commitment to Chinati’s future.”