PMA News: Longtime Curator, Colleague, and Friend Jessica May Leaving the PMA

The PMA is announcing the departure of longtime curator, colleague, and friend Jessica May, who has served as the PMA’s Deputy Director and Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic Chief Curator since 2017 and held several key positions at the museum since joining the PMA in 2012. May has overseen several transformative projects for the museum, including the highly visible multiyear project Your Museum, Reimagined, which included a complete reinstallation of the PMA collection, the publication of the museum’s first-ever collection catalogue, the construction of the Osher Art Study Room, and the digitization of more than 18,000 artworks. May can also be credited with pivoting the museum toward a more equitable and diverse collection and exhibition schedule, bringing a more representational perspective to the PMA through programming, exhibitions, collection practices, and more.  

Michael Zilkha, Nan Goldin, and Jessica May at a PMA event in 2017.

Highlights from May’s tenure at the PMA include exhibitions such as Richard Estes’ Realism, Nan Goldin, and N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives. Most importantly, May championed the acquisition of key artworks, diversifying the PMA collection and adding depth and range to the stories the museum can tell. May spearheaded a robust diversification of the PMA collection including the acquisitions of iconic artworks such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Tim Rollins & K.O.S., PEOPLE LIKE US by Jeffrey Gibson, Barrel Basket by Theresa Secord, Occupation of Alexandria by Kara Walker, and Ghetto Wall #2 by David Driskell. She also helped lead the development and opening of the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park, the PMA’s first free and public outdoor arts space.

May with the late David Driskell in 2019.

“Jessica leaves the PMA having accomplished more in a decade than most achieve in a lifetime,” says Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art. “Her passion, creativity, and devotion to the work is without parallel, and the chapters she has added to the PMA’s legacy are some of the most vibrant, compelling, and transformative in the museum’s 138-year history. The impact Jessica has had on the museum and our community cannot be adequately expressed, but visitors will see it for years to come through exhibitions she has planned, acquisitions she has added to our collection, and the inclusive and welcoming spirit of the PMA.”