Brownawell named Farnsworth director

Christopher J. Brownawell has been named the new director of the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Rockland, Maine, museum has announced. Brownawell, who has been director of the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, since 1993, is expected to begin work at the Farnsworth on Feb. 1.

He takes over from Michael K. Komanecky, the museum's chief curator, who has served as the museum’s interim director since director Lora Urbanelli left in January 2009 to become director of the Montclair Art Museum. Komanecky, who continued to organize exhibitions like Jamie Wyeth’s “Seven Deadly Sins” and “Robert Indiana and The Star of Hope” while serving as interim director, will return to his chief curator post.

Farnsworth Board of Trustees President Richard Aroneau said in a prepared statement that under Brownawell's "leadership, the Academy Art Museum, which serves a community with many parallels to Rockland, significantly grew its collections, education programs, audiences, facilities and endowment. Chris directed two successful capital expansion programs adding 28,000 square feet of program space and raised over $25 million in support for the museum over his tenure.”

Brownawell worked at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and the Commonwealth Conservation Center during undergraduate and graduate internships, before becoming a curator at the Academy Art Museum in 1988.