The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia has recently welcomed Mia Laufer, Ph.D., as the new Irene Leache Curator of European Art. Following an extensive nationwide search, Laufer officially joined the Chrysler Museum on 13 January 2025. She succeeds Lloyd DeWitt, who left the Chrysler Museum of Art in February 2024 for a position at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon.
In her new role, Laufer will oversee the research, interpretation, display, and stewardship of the Museum’s collection of European art before 1945. She will also develop and organize temporary exhibitions in the same area.
As a specialist in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century art, Laufer brings a wealth of experience to the Chrysler Museum. Most recently, she served as a curator at the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, where she reinstalled galleries dedicated to the long nineteenth century and organized exhibitions ranging from Dutch Golden Age prints to contemporary Caribbean art. She has also held positions at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul and the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. Laufer earned her doctorate in art history and archaeology from Washington University in St. Louis and her bachelor’s degree in art history from New York University.