ROME - The American Academy in Rome (AAR) announced that scholar and curator Elizabeth Rodini has been selected as the next Andrew Heiskell Arts Director, a position based in the Eternal City.

 Dr. Rodini will being a three-year term on July 1, 2019, succeeding Peter Benson Miller, who is completing a six-year term as Arts Director.

 Named after philanthropist and publishing executive Andrew Heiskell, the arts director supports the diverse work of Rome Prize and Italian Fellows by providing artistic and scholarly guidance, facilitating contacts and dialogue, and organizing programs and exhibitions.

 “We are delighted to have Elizabeth join the Academy staff—her broad experience in academic and museum settings make her an ideal selection for this position,” stated Academy President Mark Robbins.

 Dr. Rodini will join the Academy from Johns Hopkins University, where she was founding director of the interdisciplinary Program in Museums and Society (2006), taught in the Department of the History of Art, and is currently Fellow by Courtesy. Her scholarship focuses on early modern Venice and its relationships with the eastern Mediterranean, including the Islamic world.

 “As both an accomplished curator of contemporary art and a scholar of Italian art history, she will be an invaluable resource for our community in exploring the past and future of the arts in Italy,” said AAR Director John Ochsendorf. 

 “The American Academy in Rome was born of the interdisciplinary energy and expansive institutional vision that has long inspired me, and few cities can match Rome as a creative resource,” said Dr. Rodini. “I look forward to this new role and to helping advance the work of Rome Prize winners and Italian Fellows.”