Jenny Moore has been announced as the founding director of Tinworks Art in Bozeman, Montana. Moore arrives to the four-year-old arts organization from Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. She led that institution, founded by Donald Judd in the 1980s, from 2013 to 2022. At Tinworks—which occupies an array of historic and light industrial buildings and focuses on presenting work by diverse artists in unusual settings—Moore is charged with building the contemporary art program, commissioning site-specific works, developing the museum site, and expanding and formalizing operations. She will assume her new role in March.
“After four years of working to get to this point, the board is delighted to welcome Jenny Moore as our first director,” said Greg Avis, chair of Tinworks’ board of directors and a member of the search committee. “From her work in Marfa, we know Jenny to be a passionate advocate for artists, artistic production, and community engagement.”
Moore oversaw a period of tremendous growth at the Chinati Foundation, developing a multiyear preservation plan to protect its art, architecture, and environment; cataloging its institutional archive; and boosting its annual attendance from 11,300 in 2013 to 50,000 in pre-pandemic years. As well, she elevated the work of female artists, scholars, and professionals while at Chinati, which while under her care presented large-scale installations and projects by Charlotte Posenenske, Bridget Riley, and Solange. In 2020, the foundation hired Ingrid Schaffner to be the museum’s curator. Prior to her role at the Texas museum, Moore served as an associate curator at the New Museum and as a project curator the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, both in New York City.
“Tinworks Art presents a unique opportunity to build a new organization, one open to unbounded possibilities for artistic experimentation in a spectacular place,” noted Moore. “I have been drawn to artist centered alternative spaces since my early professional days in New York. Having grown up in a small, rural community, and having spent the last decade in the far west Texas frontier, I believe in the power and potential of places set apart from established art world centers. As Bozeman navigates a time of significant change and development—one that has enveloped the American West—Tinworks Art provides the space and support for artists and the public to engage these issues directly. I’m thrilled to build upon what they have started and honored to be named Tinworks Art’s founding director.”