Julie C. Lohnes has joined the faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee School of Art as Director, Curator of Galleries and Collections. 

Lohnes has over 20 years of experience directing, curating, and producing visual arts exhibitions and programs at non-profits, private galleries, and academic institutions.

Before coming to the University of Tennessee School of Art, she was the Director and Curator of Art Collections and Exhibitions at Union College, in Schenectady, NY, where she managed the daily operations of four exhibition venues and cared for a collection of over 3,000 items. There, she helped to develop and implement the department’s vision while conceptualizing, planning, and implementing as many as five exhibitions each year. 

Prior to her appointment at Union College, Lohnes was Executive Director of A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. There she produced over 30 exhibitions in an eleven-month season in collaboration with over 400 artists. A.I.R. Gallery seeks to champion women artists, increasing their visibility and the viability of their endeavors.

Julie Lohnes has an educational background that includes studio art in painting, video, sculpture, and installations, as well as studies in art history. Her work history has included executive leadership with for profit galleries, not-for-profit galleries, and educational institutions. Because Lohnes has a studio art background, she was quick to understand that trusting the artist is critical to planning and curating exhibitions. She says, “I love to see ideas percolating and the palpable energy artists bring to the exhibition environment. When curating exhibitions, I feel it is important to notice the subtleties of how art works speak to each other within the gallery as a whole. I am always seeking out artists that consider the visual arts and current issues, fusing content and formal qualities together.”

Coming to the University of Tennessee, the new director realizes that she can take advantage of a network of people who are aware of the reputation of the UT galleries.  “It is great to be following in respected footsteps, as well as to be working with Sarah McFall and Eric Cagley who have both done such good work at the Ewing Gallery, and Mike Berry at the UT Downtown Gallery.”

Having grown up in the Washington D.C. and Maryland areas, Lohnes looks forward to reacquainting herself with the southeast area, its colleges, and its communities.  She sees the arts as a soft way to build conversations and to bring communities together through the content of pieces in exhibitions.