| Rasmussen
Named Director of Art Gallery at Katzen Arts Center
 AU
alumnus Jack Rasmussen, the executive director of a contemporary
arts museum in northern California’s Napa Valley, has been named
director of the art gallery at AU’s forthcoming Katzen
Arts Center.
Rasmussen comes to Washington from wine-making country with several AU
degrees, in painting ’75, arts management ’83, and anthropology
’91, and he worked at AU from 1983 to 1987 as associate director of Development. He also holds a PhD in anthropological linguistics.
“He knows us very well,” College of Arts and Science Dean
Kay Mussell said. “He’s kept in touch. He’s particularly
well suited because of his deep and broad knowledge of the arts community
in Washington and the area.”
For the past few years, Rasmussen has run di
Rosa Preserve, a 217-acre art museum and nature preserve in Napa, Calif.,
which is home to more than 2,000 works by 800 artists. Why would anyone
ever want to leave?
“AU has always represented intellectual and professional opportunities
for me,” Rasmussen said. “I started as a grad student 30 years
ago, and it’s always been a place that’s allowed me to grow.
I’m very much indebted to it. Plus, I have a brand new, gorgeous
arts center, 30,000-square-feet to play with.”
Rasmussen earned a bachelor’s in art from Whitman College in Walla
Walla, Wash., before heading east to AU. While living in DC, he owned
and operated the Jack Rasmussen Gallery from 1978 to 1983. He also worked
as a part-time curator at the National Gallery of Art, and as assistant
director of the Washington Project for the Arts. From 1992 to 2002,
he worked as executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Art Place in
Baltimore.
When the Katzen Arts Center opens, Rasmussen will be responsible for the gallery's exhibits and publications. He’ll be scheduling and
coordinating exhibits and programs with students and faculty, and working
within the local arts community to extend AU’s reputation as an
important venue for high-quality art, said Mussell.
-Mike Unger, originally published in American Weekly.
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