Staff Highlight: Dianna Cameron, Curator of Exhibitions & Collections
Dianna Cameron, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Director
Dianna has worked for BRAHM since July of 2014, when the Museum was a mere three years old. She has grown and evolved in her position, as have BRAHM’s exhibitions and collections under her direction. Talk to Dianna and you will quickly find that she is always thinking strategically, and carefully considers the history, current state, and mission of BRAHM’s permanent collection and exhibitions when exploring future projects. And, as most who have visited BRAHM in the past couple of years will agree, the quality of exhibitions and their relevance to local history, contemporary artists, and Southern Appalachian culture is evident.
Dianna’s first endeavor with BRAHM was through a contracted position with the Hound Ears Club in Boone to curate their 50th Anniversary Exhibition. This led her to apply for and ultimately be granted the position of Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator (now Curator) at BRAHM, just three months after accepting the contracted position with Hound Ears. Dianna’s experience installing and coordinating exhibitions is extensive and dates back to her freshman year at Appalachian State University. An Arts Management and Studio Art double major, Dianna worked as a gallery assistant for two campus art organizations: the Turchin Center and the Smith Gallery. In her sophomore year, she became the curator of the university’s Looking Glass Gallery, where she developed over 30 exhibitions. After graduating, Dianna spent a summer in New York as a curatorial intern in the Department for Media and Performance Art at the Museum of Modern Art. While there, she helped with an exhibition on sound, Soundings: A Contemporary Score. Suffice to say, her breadth of knowledge and curatorial experience is remarkably varied among visual art, performance art, new media, history, and culture.
Dianna has made art for most of her life, though admittedly less since becoming a full-time curator. Her favorite work of art is the painting Christina’s World by the late Andrew Wyeth. A print of this piece graced her childhood home. Years later, she had a close encounter with the original painting while it was sitting unframed in a workspace at MoMA. “It was covered with a cloth on the table I was leaning against, and when the framer casually walked over and revealed it, I shot my hands up in the air and backed away. But then he waved me over to get a really close look at it.”
Dianna’s husband, Jo, is a professional artist and illustrator. They live with their fluffy cat and three small, but energetic dogs. Both love life in the High Country. Dianna began road cycling two years ago as a respite from work. This hobby quickly became a lifestyle change that further immersed her into the local community (and also became a life-saving experience for an orphaned possum she once came across on a ride). When asked about her favorite cycling route, she says, “The Parkway is a great place to ride. It’s beautiful, and you encounter fewer dogs than you do on other roads.”
Dianna continues to take BRAHM’s exhibitions in ambitious directions. The 2019 exhibition, Modern Visions, Modern Art: The Cone Sisters in North Carolina, put BRAHM on the international map with works by Modern masters. Simultaneously, BRAHM continues to uphold North Carolina artists and local culture. “I’m really grateful to have found BRAHM at an early stage in my career. It’s been a wild experience helping this museum grow into what it is today. I look forward to continuing to see where it goes and how it reaches people.”