Nora Burnett Abrams to Lead ICA Boston

Nora Burnett Abrams to Lead ICA Boston

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, on November 20 named Nora Burnett Abrams as its new director. She succeeds Jill Medvedow, who in October 2023 announced her departure after more than a quarter-century in the role. Abrams arrives to the ICA Boston from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (MCA), where she has served as director since 2019. Medvedow will officially leave her role on March 31, 2025, and Abrams will begin in her new position on May 1.

“On behalf of the board of trustees, we welcome Nora to the ICA with great enthusiasm,” said ICA board co-chair Bridgitt Evans in a statement. “In Denver, Nora elevated expectations for how a museum can embed its work in its community and engage audiences. She has an ambitious vision for programmatic excellence combined with cultural and civic relevance, and we look forward to bringing that vision to Boston.”

While at the helm of the MCA, Abrams grew the museum’s endowment by 30 percent and oversaw the opening of the institution’s second space at the historic Holiday Theater in Denver’s Northside neighborhood. As well, she expanded the museum’s engagement with the surrounding community and led the creation of its Racial Equity Plan. Prior to assuming directorship of the MCA, Abrams held multiple roles at the institution beginning in 2009, climbing the ranks from adjunct curator to associate curator to curator and penultimately to Ellen Bruss Curator & Director of Planning, in which capacity she helped increase the museum’s attendance by more than 200 percent. Among the exhibitions she curated for the MCA are the Tara Donovan retrosepective “Fieldwork” (2018); “Basquiat Before Basquiat” (2017); and the first-ever survey of Senga Nengudi’s “R.S.V.P.” sculptures (2014). Abrams earlier worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York. She holds a Ph.D. in the history of art from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, an MA in modern art and critical studies from Columbia University, and a BA in art history from Stanford University.

“As a longtime admirer of the ICA, I am deeply honored to lead this inspiring and courageous organization,” said Abrams in a statement. “Through its lauded exhibitions and programming, the ICA embodies the rigor, relevance, and creativity which so many in our field look to as a model. Jill’s visionary leadership has set the bar for what a contemporary art museum can be and redefined what museums can achieve through the values of openness and care. My 15-year tenure at MCA Denver was an extraordinary and formative experience which I will always treasure thanks to our inspiring artists, colleagues, and Board of Trustees. I look forward to building on the ICA’s incredible legacy and collaborating with the ICA’s outstanding team to begin an exciting new chapter for the museum.”