Mónica Ramírez-Montagut Is Named Director Of Parrish Art Museum

It’s official. The Parrish Art Museum has a new leader at the helm.

On June 8, Parrish Board Co-Chairs Alexandra Stanton and Frederic M. Seegal, and Co-Presidents Sean Cohan and Timothy G. Davis announced that Mónica Ramírez-Montagut has been named the next director of the Parrish Art Museum.

A former assistant curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ramírez-Montagut comes to the position from the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum of Michigan State University, where she was executive director. A native of Mexico, Ramírez-Montagut earned a Master of Architecture and Ph.D. in theory and history of architecture from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, ETSAB, Barcelona, Spain; plus a Bachelor of Architecture from Universidad Ibero Americana, Mexico City, Mexico.

Ramírez-Montagut begins her position at the Parrish effective July 8, and she joins the museum at an important time, as this year the museum celebrates not only its 10th anniversary in its Water Mill building, but also its 125th anniversary milestone as an arts institution on the East End.

In a recent phone interview, Ramírez-Montagut, who will be moving to Bridgehampton from Michigan in late June, shared her early impressions of the Parrish and the wider East End community, while also touching on some of her ideas for the museum going forward.

“I’ve known about the Parrish for years,” Ramírez-Montagut said. “It’s a leading institution we all know about. When this position opened, I was really intrigued. It’s up my alley in terms of my passions and skills — contemporary art and an architecturally relevant building that is serving the region as a leading institution — and in terms of art for youth, which I’m excited about.”

As a native of Mexico, Ramírez-Montagut is looking forward to working closely with the Hispanic population on the East End and building on existing relationships, particularly with the young people.

“Our closest school districts have big Hispanic populations. My heart is in that mission, serving that population of students,” she said, noting that in many ways, the East End community resembles the one she came to know in Ridgefield, Connecticut, during her tenure at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

“I think the situation of being an hour and half or two hours from New York City in this kind of suburban, regional area is similar to my experience in Connecticut,” she said. “I knew the commute and how the communities operate. I think it’s the best of two worlds, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Ramírez-Montagut notes that prior to applying for the Parrish job, she traveled to the East End and visited the museum while on a road trip with family and friends. She was impressed by what she encountered here.

“I had the best experience at the front desk, I saw the Jasper Johns exhibit and had a lovely coffee in the café,” she said. “It was raining, so the museum was really busy, with lots of toddlers. In the future, I can see developing programs where we give kids materials so they can draw in the museum. We also had a lovely lunch in Sag Harbor and then we went next to Bob Wilson’s venue [The Watermill Center]. We walked around those gardens, it was a magical experience.”

The idea of fostering close relationships with other East End organizations and working collaboratively is something that intrigues Ramírez-Montagut and she sees a good deal of potential in such efforts.

“There’s a galaxy of really interesting venues there and I think that is the way to go. That’s how I like operating, creating overarching projects that go beyond the walls of the museum and impact the whole region,” said Ramírez-Montagut, noting that while at the San Jose Museum of Art, she helped to create an exhibition that centered on food and its role in the community, while also bringing in partnering organizations from the region.

Being in touch with and keyed in on the various facets and components of the East End community will be a priority for Ramírez-Montagut at the Parrish. She noted that the pandemic highlighted the important role that local support plays in weathering tough times and at her museum in Michigan, she organized an exhibition focused on thanking the community in which people submitted portraits of neighbors who cared for them during the pandemic’s darkest days.

“Gestures like that go a long way — it’s acknowledging our community,” she said. “I think we need to be keen on identifying our audiences and make sure we’re serving them well. Who are our core audiences? If they are first time visitors, they need to be welcomed and acknowledged. If we need to go to school board meetings and announce programs, we’ll do that. If we need to do more outreach to the Shinnecock Nation, we’ll go meet them where they are.”

With her strong background and education in architecture, another aspect of the Parrish that Ramírez-Montagut finds particularly exciting is the Herzog & de Meuron building, which turns 10 this year and is, in and of itself, a work of art.

“I’ve known of the architects of the building for a while. They did prominent buildings in Europe, so I’ve known their work,” she said. “I like the idea that the building was inspired by the artist’s studio — taking barns and trying to work outdoors and indoors at the same time, combining it with the landscape and paying homage to the farmland of the region. Talking to board members, it behooves us to tell a better story of our building. It’s on us to share the great ideas behind this building and celebrate it a bit more.

“I’ve done architectural exhibitions and I’m ready to start unpacking the building,” Ramírez-Montagut added. “The Guggenheim thinks of its building as one of the most important masterpieces. We need to do that as well. Architectural relevance only adds more quality to whatever we’re doing.

“In Michigan, we also had an architecturally relevant building designed by Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive a Pritzker Prize in architecture,” she said. “Telling our own story just adds to the total experience and also helps folks to feel proud about what’s in our own community.”

From the physical building and outreach to understanding the museum’s audience, Ramírez-Montagut is eager to examine all the various components of the Parrish and build on them in order to create an environment for the East End community that is both inviting and all-inclusive.

“We need to be welcoming. From our parking lot to our restrooms, we need to be accessible to our audience,” said Ramírez-Montagut, who shares a story about how important it is to belong. “Sometimes it’s as simple as having someone say, ‘Hello.’ I grew up in Mexico. When I travel back there and the immigration officer stamps my passport, he says, ‘Welcome home.’ I know it’s going to happen and I say I’m not going to cry. But I always do.”