Universe Of The Mind (天心): Master Shen-long

Jacqueline Chao, Ph.D., is a curator and scholar of Asian art with professional experience in museums, universities, research institutions and non-profit arts organizations. She is a published author, editor, and skilled presenter, with talent in exhibition creation, organization and development, arts and cultural programming, and artist and donor relations.

As Senior Curator of Asian Art at the Crow Museum of Asian Art, recognized as the Asian Art Museum of Dallas, she oversees the museum’s curatorial department, including the study, care, display, acquisition, interpretation, research and publication of the museum’s collections. She curates and develops original exhibitions, forges new contemporary collaborations, cultivates relationships with national and international partners and donors, and serves as a member of the museum’s senior leadership team.

Since joining the Crow Museum in 2016 as Curator of Asian Art, she has curated and organized over twenty exhibitions at the museum. Her exhibitions have presented works ranging from the historical to the contemporary in all medias from emerging and established artists from across the globe. Recently, she was the lead curator for all of the Crow Museum’s gallery reinstallations, including the museum’s twentieth anniversary exhibition, following the institution’s multi-million dollar renovation and expansion (re-opened in Fall 2018).

A specialist in Chinese and Buddhist art, she is a widely-published author and frequent lecturer on Asian Art. In addition to her appointment at the Crow Museum, she is also a faculty member of the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History and the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, serves on the Faculty Advisory Council for the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, and sits on the Asian Art Advisory Council of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. She is currently completing a new Handbook to the Crow Museum’s collections (forthcoming in 2023).

She joined the Crow Museum from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she taught courses in Asian Art History, and from the Art Institute of Chicago, where she contributed research to the Chinese painting collection. As Director of Exhibitions and Residencies at Chicago Artists Coalition, a prominent 40-year-old arts service organization, she managed all of the exhibition and residency programming, including a year-long artist studio residency (consisting of 11 artists) and curatorial and artist incubator (consisting of 24 artists and 4 curators).

She holds an MA and PhD in the History and Theory of Art from Arizona State University with a dissertation on renowned Chinese artist Chen Rong (act. 13th century) and the Chinese dragon ink painting tradition, and an Honors BA in Art History from the University of Toronto.

In 2019 she was recognized for her curatorial work in Patron Magazine’s “Best Of: Curators” issue for bringing advanced perspectives to the Crow Museum’s collections and for broadening perceptions of Asian art. She is also the recipient of a 2021 Association of Art Museum Curators Curatorial Award for Excellence.

—jcurate.com