Emily Jacobs ’23 Appointed as Curatorial Assistant and Manager of Student Programs

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is thrilled to welcome Emily Jacobs ’23 as the next Postbaccalaureate Curatorial Assistant and Manager of Student Programs. Jacobs, who graduated from Bowdoin this past May, has demonstrated a commitment to working with the Museum as part of both her academic work and student leadership activities during her time at Bowdoin. Jacobs was chosen from a competitive field of applicants—all Bowdoin alums from the classes of 2022, 2023, and 2024—and succeeds Sabrina Lin, Bowdoin Class of 2021, who was the first person to hold this position. Jacobs began her new role at the Museum this past July. 

“We are delighted to welcome Emily back to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in this essential role,” said Frank Goodyear, co-director. “Emily’s passion for building bridges between the Museum, faculty, students, and the wider community was evident during her time as a student and intern here. Her experience developing and supporting innovative programs to engage students will be invaluable as we continue our work supporting the Museum’s academic mission.” Added co-director Anne Collins Goodyear, “We also want to thank Sabrina Lin for her outstanding work with us since July 2021, including for conceiving of and curating her well-received exhibition Turn of Phrase: Language and Translation in Global Contemporary Art (December 15, 2022–June 4, 2023). We are grateful for her work with us, and for helping to establish this important role at the Museum.” 

As a Bowdoin College undergraduate, Jacobs majored in Art History and minored in Anthropology. Her coursework included classes such as Critical Museum Studies, Decolonizing Archaeology, and seminars that involved close study of artworks at the Museum. Last summer, she served as the Museum’s Summer Curatorial Intern, during which time she conducted research for the exhibition The Book of Two Hemispheres: “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in the United States and Europe (January 25–July 21, 2024). Beginning in September 2023, she served as the inaugural Curatorial Intern of Campus Engagement, a new position created to strengthen the connection between faculty, students, and the Museum. Jacobs was also active in leading the Bowdoin Art Society and Bowdoin Student Museum Collective. In her work with these two organizations, she helped to establish and launch the first-ever Student Acquisitions Program, which provides members with an opportunity to identify an artwork for acquisition by the BCMA. The inaugural year of the program led to the recent acquisition of Second Moon #2 by Samira Abbassy to the Museum’s permanent collection.  

“I am excited to step into this role at the Museum, which has been such a vital part of my Bowdoin education and experience,” said Emily Jacobs. “As a student, I considered myself fortunate that our art museum is so centrally connected to our campus. The BCMA’s exhibitions and programs are designed to engage students and the public alike, meaning they are always educational while embracing larger themes and often challenging questions. The opportunity to serve as curatorial assistant and manager of student programs is thrilling, and I look forward to building on my own experiences as a student—and what I learned working with my predecessor, Sabrina Lin, during her time in this role—to develop new opportunities for student engagement with our collections and exhibitions, and to support faculty in teaching with art across disciplines.” 

We look forward to the exciting developments and new insights that Emily will bring to the Museum!