The Newberry is pleased to announce the appointment of Suzanne Karr Schmidt to the position of George Amos Poole III Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Since 2013, Suzanne has been Assistant Curator in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, where her responsibilities include exhibitions, cataloging the early modern print collection, working with researchers and donors, and collaborating with conservators and other curators.
She previously served as Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow (2008-2011) and Curatorial Fellow (2011-2013) at the Art Institute. Suzanne received a Certificate of Proficiency in "The Book in Continental Europe and Great Britain" from Rare Book School and worked as a cataloger for the antiquarian bookseller Martayan Lan in New York.
Suzanne holds a BA in the history of art and architecture and visual art from Brown University, as well as MPhil and PhD degrees in the history of art from Yale University. Her dissertation, "Art—A User's Guide: Interactive and Sculptural Printmaking in the Renaissance," studied the historical context of early paper engineering (i.e. the "Renaissance Pop-Up Book") and informed the multi-media Art Institute of Chicago exhibition Altered and Adorned: Using Renaissance Prints in Daily Life.
As an active member of Chicago's bibliographic, bibliophilic, and museum communities, Suzanne has interacted with many Newberry staff members in the course of her research; lectured for the Map Society; and, with Diane Dillon (the Newberry's Director of Exhibitions and Major Projects) and Walter Melion, coordinates the Samuel H. Kress-funded Newberry Seminar in European Art.
Suzanne is currently completing Interactive and Sculptural Printmaking in the Renaissance, a book manuscript under contract for 2017 with Brill Publishers. She will join the Newberry on March 1.