Franklin Sirmans and Stephan Jost in Conversation

Join Stephan Jost, AGO Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO, and Franklin Sirmans, Director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) for a conversation on the role of museums in this moment. Franklin Sirmans is the director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) since fall of 2015. Prior to his appointment in Miami, he was the department head and curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from 2010 until 2015 and 2006 to 2010, he was curator of modern and contemporary art at The Menil Collection, Houston. Sirmans has organized several shows including NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith and Maurizio Cattelan: Is Their Life Before Death? He was the artistic director of Prospect.3 New Orleans in 2014. Since coming to PAMM, he has overseen the acquisition of more than a thousand works of art by donation or purchase. Stephan Jost became the director of the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2016. Following his appointment, Stephan demonstrated immediate leadership by thoughtfully exploring the AGO’s visitorship, collection and key strengths in order to strategically focus on three mission-aligned areas: art, access and learning. He has overseen the revitalization of several key areas in the Gallery, helped clarify new audience target segments; and launched Look:Forward, a major reinstallation of the AGO’s remarkable Collection.