Gabriella De Ferrari
Encyclopedia
Gabriella De Ferrari is an American art historian, curator, and writer who has worked with and led major arts institutions throughout the United States.
, Peru
in 1941 to Italian parents, De Ferrari moved to the United States to attend Saint Louis University
in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she graduated with a B.A. in marketing and economics. De Ferrari then earned an M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
of Tufts University
, and an M.A. in art history from Harvard University
. After her studies, she became an influential art historian, curator, and administrator at major US art institutions, such as The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, where she became director. She moved to New York City
in 1989, where she began to write about art, design, and general-interest subjects.
, and the assistant director of the Fogg Museum. At the Fogg, she organized courtyard installations of the work of Richard Long
, Maria Nordman, Patrick Ireland
, and Mary Miss, as well as a James Lee Byars exhibition and the exhibition of the Busch Reisinger Museum Collection at the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.
In 1994 De Ferrari became the founding chair of the Board of Governors of the Colby College
Museum of Art. Under her leadership, the museum’s collection added major works by artists Sol LeWitt
, Terry Winters
, and Richard Serra
, among others.
From 2000 to 2006, De Ferrari served as the philanthropic advisor to the chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corporation
. Under her guidance, the company was awarded the Americans for the Arts Award for corporate leadership in the arts, as a result of several new arts initiatives, including a public art program that commissioned new works displayed in New York
, Boston
, and Hartford, and a program that funded exhibitions, including one of Vincent van Gogh
’s drawings and one of Jasper Johns
’ Grey Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York.
In 2007 and 2008, De Ferrari was creative director of Project Globe 2008 for American Express Publishing and Travel + Leisure
magazine. The project commissioned arts and designers to created works in response to the concept of the globe.
Her novel, A Cloud on Sand, was published in 1990 by Alfred A. Knopf
. In 1990, Barnes & Noble awarded A Cloud on Sand a Discover Award via its annual “Discover Great New Writers” program. It was also named one of the ten best books of 1990 by Entertainment Weekly
and was published in many languages.
In 1994, she published Gringa Latina: A Woman of Two Worlds (Houghton Mifflin
), a memoir about growing up as a “gringa” in Peru and then becoming a “Latina” in the United States. The book appeared in many foreign editions.
De Ferrari currently writes for Travel + Leisure
magazine, where she is a contributing editor. She has written for them on topics including the artist Richard Serra
and the architect Renzo Piano
. She has also published short stories and articles in Bomb magazine and has written articles for House & Garden
, Connoisseur, and Mirabella
. Additionally, she has written for the op-ed page of the New York Times, including a piece on 9/11 and one on private art in public spaces.
Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, De Ferrari was a member of the Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Building Committee. She served on the Board of The New School
in New York, where she was the Founding Chair of The Vera List Center for Art and Politics
and chaired the Advisory Board for the Art Collection and for the Graduate Writing Program. She is also a member of The Visiting Committee for the Harvard University Art Museums
and the Visiting Committee for the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, New York. She was the founding Chair of the Advisory Board of the Colby College Museum of Art
. She is a member of the Board of the Bogliasco Foundation in Genoa (Italy) and the Bank Street College of Education
in New York, and was Chair of the Board of Creative Time
in New York. She is the chair of the board of the CUNY Graduate Center Foundation.
One of the ten best books of 1990 by Entertainment Weekly
(A Cloud on Sand) (1990)
The New School
Medal for Distinguished Service (1996)
Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Colby College
(2008)
Background and education
Born in TacnaTacna
- Rail :Tacna is served by a cross-border standard gauge railway to Arica, Chile.It is also the location of the National Railway Museum of Peru.-Air:Tacna is served by the Crnl. FAP...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in 1941 to Italian parents, De Ferrari moved to the United States to attend Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she graduated with a B.A. in marketing and economics. De Ferrari then earned an M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is the oldest school in the United States dedicated solely to graduate studies in international affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's foremost schools of international affairs. Every Fall, the school enrolls approximately 265...
of Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, and an M.A. in art history from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. After her studies, she became an influential art historian, curator, and administrator at major US art institutions, such as The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, where she became director. She moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1989, where she began to write about art, design, and general-interest subjects.
Art historian and curator
De Ferrari served as curator of exhibitions of The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, before becoming director of the Institute. Later, she became curator of Harvard’s Busch-Reisinger MuseumBusch-Reisinger Museum
The Busch-Reisinger Museum, opened to the public in 1903, is one of two museums in North America dedicated to the study of art from the German-speaking countries of Europe. The other museum is the Neue Galerie, located in New York City. The Busch-Reisinger joins the Fogg Museum and the Arthur M...
, and the assistant director of the Fogg Museum. At the Fogg, she organized courtyard installations of the work of Richard Long
Richard Long (artist)
Richard Long is an English sculptor, photographer and painter, one of the best known British land artists. Long is the only artist to be shortlisted for the Turner Prize four times, and he is reputed to have refused the prize in 1984...
, Maria Nordman, Patrick Ireland
Patrick Ireland
Patrick Ireland was the alter ego of Brian O'Doherty an Irish sculptor, conceptual artist, author, and installation artist. He was born in County Roscommon in 1928 and lives and works in the United States. O'Doherty began signing his work under the name Patrick Ireland in reaction to the Bloody...
, and Mary Miss, as well as a James Lee Byars exhibition and the exhibition of the Busch Reisinger Museum Collection at the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C.
In 1994 De Ferrari became the founding chair of the Board of Governors of the Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
Museum of Art. Under her leadership, the museum’s collection added major works by artists Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
, Terry Winters
Terry Winters
Terry Winters is an American painter whose work reintroduced figuration into painting in way that was consonant with the Modernist legacy...
, and Richard Serra
Richard Serra
Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
, among others.
From 2000 to 2006, De Ferrari served as the philanthropic advisor to the chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Technologies Building in Hartford, Connecticut...
. Under her guidance, the company was awarded the Americans for the Arts Award for corporate leadership in the arts, as a result of several new arts initiatives, including a public art program that commissioned new works displayed in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and Hartford, and a program that funded exhibitions, including one of Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
’s drawings and one of Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
’ Grey Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York.
In 2007 and 2008, De Ferrari was creative director of Project Globe 2008 for American Express Publishing and Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is put out by American Express Publishing Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express Company led by...
magazine. The project commissioned arts and designers to created works in response to the concept of the globe.
Writer
De Ferrari is the author of a novel, a memoir, and numerous articles published in magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals.Her novel, A Cloud on Sand, was published in 1990 by Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. In 1990, Barnes & Noble awarded A Cloud on Sand a Discover Award via its annual “Discover Great New Writers” program. It was also named one of the ten best books of 1990 by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
and was published in many languages.
In 1994, she published Gringa Latina: A Woman of Two Worlds (Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
), a memoir about growing up as a “gringa” in Peru and then becoming a “Latina” in the United States. The book appeared in many foreign editions.
De Ferrari currently writes for Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is put out by American Express Publishing Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express Company led by...
magazine, where she is a contributing editor. She has written for them on topics including the artist Richard Serra
Richard Serra
Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
and the architect Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect. He is the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize...
. She has also published short stories and articles in Bomb magazine and has written articles for House & Garden
House & Garden (magazine)
House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
, Connoisseur, and Mirabella
Mirabella
Mirabella was a women's magazine published from 1989 to 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former Vogue editor in chief....
. Additionally, she has written for the op-ed page of the New York Times, including a piece on 9/11 and one on private art in public spaces.
Philanthropy
As a result of her extensive activities in the cultural sector, De Ferrari has earned a place on the Boards of Trustees and Advisory Boards of numerous cultural and educational institutions. While serving on the Board of Trustees of the Wadsworth AtheneumWadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, De Ferrari was a member of the Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Building Committee. She served on the Board of The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in New York, where she was the Founding Chair of The Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, founded in 1992 and named in honor of the late philanthropist, organizes public events that respond to the role of the arts in society and their relationship to the sociopolitical climate in which they are created...
and chaired the Advisory Board for the Art Collection and for the Graduate Writing Program. She is also a member of The Visiting Committee for the Harvard University Art Museums
Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums, part of Harvard University, comprise three museums and four research centers .The Harvard Art Museums...
and the Visiting Committee for the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York. She was the founding Chair of the Advisory Board of the Colby College Museum of Art
Colby College Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Colby College Museum of Art now comprises four wings, more than 6,000 works, and more than of exhibition space. The Museum's permanent collection specializes in American and contemporary art...
. She is a member of the Board of the Bogliasco Foundation in Genoa (Italy) and the Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
in New York, and was Chair of the Board of Creative Time
Creative Time
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1973 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged works in the public realm, especially in vacant spaces of historical and architectural interest...
in New York. She is the chair of the board of the CUNY Graduate Center Foundation.
Awards and recognition
In 1990, Barnes & Noble awarded A Cloud on Sand a Discover AwardOne of the ten best books of 1990 by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
(A Cloud on Sand) (1990)
The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
Medal for Distinguished Service (1996)
Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
(2008)