Virginia N. and Randall J. Barbato Deputy Director and Chief Curator
As deputy director and chief curator, Andria Derstine oversees the work of approximately 20 curators and works closely with the director, curators, and museum leadership to strengthen the CMA’s celebrated permanent collection and expand its nationally recognized program of exhibitions. In addition, she supervises the museum’s conservation, collections management, performing arts, music, and film areas along with the Ingalls Library and Museum Archives. Derstine also collaborates on both the interpretation of the museum’s collection and the institution’s long-standing joint program in art history with Case Western Reserve University.
Derstine has extensive museum experience, including more than 18 years at the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) at Oberlin College, where she served as the John G. W. Cowles Director for over 12 years, responsible for the care and growth of a collection of more than 16,000 works spanning six millennia. Prior to becoming director of the AMAM, she was the museum’s curator of European and American art. Earlier in her career, she was assistant curator of European art at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and she held volunteer positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Fogg Museum. In addition to her work in museums, Derstine has experience in management consulting and in the financial sector.
Derstine holds a PhD from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, a BA from Harvard University, and a certificate in executive education from Columbia Business School achieved through the Center for Curatorial Leadership. An accomplished author, Derstine has numerous publications to her name, including, as a coauthor, catalogues of the Italian Baroque paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts and of highlights of the collection at the AMAM.
Contact the Curator at: ChiefCurator@clevelandart.org