Luis A. Croquer will assume the role of Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose Art Museum starting on July 14, University President Ronald Liebowitz announced in a May 12 email to the student body.

Croquer currently serves as deputy director of exhibitions, collections and programs at the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he oversees the gallery’s major artistic and creative areas and facilitates interactions among the museum’s curatorial, collections and education departments, according to a May 12 BrandeisNOW article.

Croquer’s appointment, said Liebowitz, “strengthens the role of the Rose as a center of excellence on our campus. … The Rose has undergone a period of rebirth and renewal, and is now poised for even greater artistic prominence. Having a director with Luis’ extraordinary talents is a great gift, for our students and for the international art world.”

Croquer has lived in Austria, El Salvador, England, Gabon, India, Italy, Lebanon, Switzerland, the U.S. and Venezuela, according to BrandeisNOW. He holds a master’s degree in modern and contemporary art history, theory and criticism from the State University of New York at Purchase. Croquer’s work has earned him Fulbright, Guggenheim Museum and Warhol Foundation fellowships, the article reports.

“I am honored to join the Rose Art Museum and the wonderful and intellectually rich Brandeis community,” Croquer said in an interview with BrandeisNOW.

Croquer also noted the role of the Rose in the University community at large — “Museums must be more engaged with the fabric of their communities, to act as places for inclusive dialogue and valiant inquiry,” he said. “I firmly believe that university museums will be the leaders in the next wave of artistic expression in the United States. I want the Rose to be a flagship for that transformation.”

As Henry and Lois Foster Director, Croquer’s duties will include both general museum management and direction of all artistic and programming initiatives at the Rose.

Croquer was selected for the position by a search committee comprised of faculty, students, staff and board members and supported by the search firm Phillips Oppenheim, according to the BrandeisNOW article.

Prior to his work at the Henry, Croquer worked as the director and chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, special projects assistant to the director at the Museo del Barrio in New York, senior curator at the American Federation of Arts in New York, and curator of historical exhibitions at the Drawing Center in New York.

Croquer will replace Interim Director Kristin Parker, who has been holding the position since the departure of former director Christopher Bedford in July 2016.

—Carmi Rothberg