Merry A. Foresta

Currently an independent curator and arts adviser, Merry Foresta was the founding director of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative from 2000 to 2010. Previously, she had served in the department of 20th century art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was named the museum’s first curator of photography in 1982 and subsequently was appointed senior curator of photography in 1992. In 2000, she was appointed Director of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative, a web-based, multi-disciplinary project about photography in Smithsonian collections. During this time, Foresta also taught at a number of Washington, D.C. area universities and colleges.