Home > News > UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture Appoints Scholar, Curator and Author Russell Ferguson Chair of the Department of Art

UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture Appoints Scholar, Curator and Author Russell Ferguson Chair of the Department of Art

Ferguson will continue his association with the Hammer Museum as adjunct curator

Christopher Waterman, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, announced the appointment of Russell Ferguson as professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Art, effective Jan. 1.

“Russell brings remarkable scholarly and curatorial leadership to the UCLA Department of Art, and we enthusiastically welcome him,” Waterman said. “Already a trusted and admired member of the UCLA arts community, Russell’s impressive experience as a curator, scholar, writer and lecturer, combined with his passion and commitment, will bring a new level of excitement to the department.”

As the former chief curator and deputy director of exhibitions and programs at the Hammer Museum at UCLA, Ferguson will continue to develop new projects for the museum as an adjunct curator, strengthening the ties between the UCLA Department of Art and the Hammer. During his tenure at the Hammer, Ferguson was co-curator of the exhibition “Wolfgang Tillmans” and organized internationally acclaimed exhibitions, including “The Undiscovered Country, Patty Chang: Shangri-La” and “Christian Marclay.” Ferguson is currently organizing “Francis Alÿs: The Politics of Rehearsal,” which will open at the Hammer Museum in Fall 2007.

“Russell has been an invaluable colleague and strong influence at the Hammer, and we are happy for him that he has decided to pursue his academic career at UCLA,” said Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum. “We are honored Russell will maintain a close working relationship with us as he becomes an advisor to the institution and an adjunct curator for the Hammer.”

Prior to his arrival at the Hammer Museum in 2001, Ferguson served as associate curator and publications editor at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, where he was honored by the International Association of Art Critics for his work. Ferguson is also the editor of two collections of critical writing: “Discourses: Conversations in Postmodern Art and Culture” and “Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures,” both published by
MIT Press. He has written about the work of many contemporary artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rodney Graham, Liz Larner, Nikki S. Lee and Gillian Wearing.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Ferguson graduated with honors from the University of Stirling, Scotland, and received his master’s in art history from Hunter College, City University of New York.

“I am very excited to be joining the School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA,” said Ferguson. “The UCLA Department of Art has exceptionally talented students and a truly outstanding faculty. I am looking forward to working with them to define the future of the department. Dean Waterman, outgoing chair Barbara Drucker and acting chair James Welling have all done an amazing job in support of the art community at UCLA. I am happy to be joining them.”

About the Department

The UCLA Department of Art’s faculty of internationally recognized artists and theoreticians guide students in exploring contemporary studio practice. Emphasis is placed on autonomy, experimentation, communal discourse and artistic responsibility.

Department faculty members include John Baldessari, Jennifer Bolande, Barbara Drucker, Roger Herman, Mary Kelly, Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie, Hirsch Perlman, Lari Pittman, Charles Ray, Adrian Saxe, Don Suggs, James Welling and Patty Wickman.

Representative alumni include Amy Adler, Lita Albuquerque, Peter Alexander, Uta Barth, Tony Berlant, Jennifer Bornstein, Slater Bradley, Delia Brown, Kristin Calabrese, Vija Celmins, Judy Chicago, Liz Craft, Allan de Souza, James Doolin, Noriko Furunishi, Charles Garabedian, Tim Hawkinson, Robert Heinecken, Evan Holloway, Salomon Huerta, Kurt Kauper, Martin Kersels, Simon Leung, Monica Majoli, Ed Moses, Sandeep Mukherjee, Jennifer Pastor, Monique Prieto, Jon Pylypchuk, Michael Queenland, Jason Rhoades, Peter Shelton, Paul Sietsema, Mungo Thomson, Brenna Youngblood and Amir Zaki.

About UCLA Arts

UCLA Arts comprises six degree-granting departments: Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design | Media Arts, Ethnomusicology, Music, and World Arts and Cultures; and three internationally acclaimed public arts institutions: the Hammer Museum (incorporating the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden), the Fowler Museum at UCLA and UCLA Live, the performing arts program. The school is also a nexus for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research supported by its centers: the Art | Sci Center, the Art | Global Health Center, the Center for Intercultural Performance, the Experiential Technologies Center and the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts.
About UCLA
California’s largest university, UCLA enrolls approximately 38,000 students per year and offers degrees from the UCLA College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools in dozens of varied disciplines. UCLA consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges nationwide in total research-and-development spending, receiving more than $820 million a year in competitively awarded federal and state grants and contracts. For every $1 state taxpayers invest in UCLA, the university generates almost $9 in economic activity, resulting in an annual $6 billion economic impact on the Greater Los Angeles region. The university’s health care network treats 450,000 patients per year. UCLA employs more than 27,000 faculty and staff, has more than 350,000 living alumni and has been home to five Nobel Prize recipients.

Carolyn Campbell, ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu
Eleanore Reznikoff, earez@arts.ucla.edu
(310) 825-6540