ATLANTA, GA – Dr. Ruth Allen is the new curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta. According to the Museum’s press release, “Allen brings to the Carlos strong curatorial experience, exceptional academic credentials, and a background in education.”

A native of the UK, Allen received her BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge, her MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute, and her PhD from the University of Cambridge. She was most recently a Visiting Academic at the Institute of Classical Studies in London.

Allen has held curatorial positions in the Antiquities Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum, where she contributed to the development of three international loan exhibitions, and at the British Museum, researching and cataloguing their collection of Roman glass gems. She has previously worked as an undergraduate supervisor for the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge and a Department Administrator for the Department of Antiquities at Christie’s, London.

Allen co-curated The Classical Now at King’s College London, Recasting: Classical Casts and Contemporary Art at the Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology, and Classicicity: Ancient Art and Contemporary Objects at Breese Little, London.

“Ruth Allen comes highly recommended as a smart, engaging, passionate scholar and colleague,” said director Bonnie Speed. “We are looking forward to welcoming her to the Carlos from the United Kingdom.”

Allen took up her post in September, and will host the AntiquiTEA at the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 4 PM, an event with tea, scones, and a discussion about the story of Orpheus and how it continues to inspire artists to the present day, from Gluck’s 1752 opera Orfeo ed Euridice to the Tony award-winning Broadway musical Hadestown.

The event is free and open to the public.

According to the university’s website, Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Michael C. Carlos and his wife, Thalia, made transformational gifts to the Emory museum that bears the Carlos name, transforming it into one of the most significant university museums in the country.

Mr. Carlos was chair and CEO of National Distributing Company, a wine and spirits wholesaler founded by his father, a Greek immigrant.

Mr. and Mrs. Carlos made their initial gift to the museum in 1981; the facility was named in his honor after a 1990 pledge, which was the impetus for a 35,000-square-foot expansion designed by architect Michael Graves. Including a gift to the museum in 1999 for the acquisition of Greek and Roman masterpieces, they gave more than $20 million to establish the museum as one of the cultural gems in Atlanta.

Mr. Carlos passed away in 2002 and his wife in 2011.

More information is available online: https://carlos.emory.edu.