Kathleen V. Jameson will be the next director of the Speed Art Museum.Photo Alex Brumley

Louisville’s Speed Art Museum Names New Director 

by · ARTnews

The Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, has named Kathleen V. Jameson as its next director. She officially began in the role on Tuesday. She replaces Raphaela Platow, who stepped down last year at the end of a four-year contract.  

A scholar of late 19th- and early 20th-century American art, with an emphasis on photography and works on paper, Jameson was most recently the executive director of Pennsylvania’s James A. Michener Art Museum, a role she held from 2018 to 2019.

Speed Art Museum in Kentucky Is Repatriating 24 Objects to Cheyenne and Arapaho TribesThe Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, is repatriating 24 objects to Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes based in Oklahoma in compliance with NAGPRA.Leigh Anne Miller, 19 Aug 2026Speed Art Museum Plans Sculpture Park, Photographer Roland Freeman Dies at 87, and More: Morning Links for August 18, 2023The Speed Art Museum is planning a sculpture park, photographer Roland Freeman died at 87, and more global art news.The Editors of ARTnews, 18 Aug 2023

Previously, she was president and chief executive of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 2010 to 2017. While there, she led the development of a strategic plan for the institution, which included the creation of a digital media program and a Latino and Latin American art initiative. She also worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from 2004 to 2010 in multiple roles, rising to assistant director.

“Dr. Jameson brings exactly the combination of experience, vision and leadership we believe the Speed needs at this important moment,” John Crockett, the museum’s board chair, said in a statement. “She understands museums from every angle – from scholarship and collections to fundraising, governance, and community engagement.”

Her appointment at the Speed also represents a return to both the city and the institution. From 1993 to 1995, she lived in the city while earning her master’s in American art and architecture from the University of Louisville. During her studies, she also worked at the Speed under Peter Morrin, the executive director from 1986 to 2005.

“Returning to Louisville and to the Speed is deeply meaningful to me,” Jameson said in a statement. “My time here as a graduate student helped shape both my scholarship and my career in museums, and I have always valued the Speed’s commitment to artistic excellence and connection.”

The Speed Art Museum, which is Kentucky’s oldest and largest museum with around 15,000 objects in its collection, will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. “The Centennial is an extraordinary opportunity not only to celebrate the Speed’s history, but also to think ambitiously about its future,” Jameson added in her statement. “Museums are at their best when they bring art, ideas and people together. I look forward to helping the Speed deepen those connections, welcome new audiences, and continue to be a place where people can learn, discover and feel a sense of belonging.”