Hyde museum, effective Feb. 22.
Jonathan Canning, a specialist in European Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art, was named curator of the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls. He will oversee the museum’s permanent collection of nearly 4,000 works of European and American art.
Canning, a veteran arts administrator, has spent 25 years in the museum field. He has curated more than 20 exhibitions, and contributed to exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art. His breadth of experience extends beyond the Medieval and Renaissance periods to encompass contemporary art, Japanese art, and American art and architecture, according to Hyde officials.
“Jonathan’s strengths as a curator, educator, and in community relations are the perfect fit,” said Erin Coe, director of the Hyde Collection. “His exceptional skills as a steward of art, his management acumen, and his interest in strengthening ties with the community are important as we work to build the collection and increase engagement.”
Canning will begin work at the Hyde on Feb. 22. Canning comes to the Hyde from his position as senior curator at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) and the curator of the Martin D’Arcy, S.J. Collection in Chicago. There, he installed the permanent collection in a new museum, developed its exhibition program, and supervised the museum’s successful application for accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.
In addition, he promoted the collection through loans for exhibitions and by having LUMA pieces included in significant international online cataloging projects, such as the Courtauld Institute of Art’s Gothic Ivories Project, and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s catalogue of late medieval boxwood sculptures.
Canning raised significant funding for the care and display of the LUMA collections, and secured the museum’s first National Endowment for the Arts grant, as well as an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant for the conservation of two Italian Renaissance wedding chests.
“I believe in the power of art to enliven the spirit, enrich the soul, and to simply bring joy into one’s life,” Canning said. “I know that the director, staff, and docents at the Hyde share this belief. The community rightly takes great pride in the Hyde Collection. I’m looking forward to working with everyone to realize the full potential of the museum as a place for learning, enrichment, and enjoyment.”
Officials said Canning’s expertise includes European decorative art, a specialty he honed through a research position at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and by participation in the Attingham Summer School for the Study of the English Country House.
He began his professional career in museum education at the Cleveland Museum of Art and transitioned into curatorial work while a graduate student in New York City, where he worked on temporary exhibitions at the Jewish Museum, and on the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture at the New-York Historical Society, where he later served as chief of staff.
Canning received his master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University in New York; an M.A. in art history from the University of Delaware; and a B.A. Hons. from the Courtauld Institute at the University of London.