Rachel Winter wants to make the museum a key part of everyone’s university experience: “University art museums are important spaces for innovation and collaboration that not only generate thought-provoking exhibitions, but can transform the ways students learn, and faculty teach.” She came to the MSU Broad Art Museum in 2022 from California, where she was working towards her Ph.D. in Art History. As an art historian of global contemporary art, Rachel focuses on modern and contemporary art from the Middle East. She is excited to bring this research to Michigan because it resonates with the state’s history as a home for many from the Arab world, including artists. Rachel previously worked at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Rachel received her BA in Art History and MA in Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Iowa. She is a faculty affiliate of MSU’s Muslim Studies Program, and a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators, the College Art Association, and the Association for Modern + Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, + Turkey. Outside the museum, you’ll find Rachel walking her dog, drinking coffee, and baking gluten-free treats.