Charles L. Venable

Deputy Director for Collections and Programs, Cleveland Museum of Art,
Co-Curator, “Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design”

Charles L. Venable joined the Cleveland Museum of Art as Deputy Director for Collections and Programs in 2002. He is responsible for the direct managerial oversight of nine divisions—curatorial, education, exhibitions, conservation, publications, library and archives, photography, registration, and performing arts, music, and film.

Prior to joining the Cleveland Museum of Art, he served as Director of Collections Management and Exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art, where he also held several positions including Interim Director, Deputy Director/Chief Curator, and Curator of Decorative Arts and Design during his sixteen-year tenure. While at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dr. Venable organized the 1994 exhibition Silver in America, 1880–1940: A Century of Splendor and the 2000 exhibition From Tabletop to TV Tray: China and Glass in America, 1880–1980. These shows and their accompanying books are now considered landmarks in the decorative arts field.

Currently, Dr. Venable is serving as co-curator for the national traveling exhibition Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design, organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. He is also an editor for the exhibition catalogue of the same title. The catalogue is the first major scholarly undertaking to explore the scope of modernist design in 20th-century American silver.

Dr. Venable has written for and contributed to numerous other publications including Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute (1999, Syracuse University Press), Germanic Craftsmen and Design in Philadelphia, 1820–1850 (1998, Journal of American Furniture), and Silver in America, 1840–1940: A Century of Splendor (1994, New York: Abrams), for which he received the Charles F. Montgomery Book Prize.

His other honors and awards include the Charles F. Montgomery Award for Outstanding Scholarship; the Attingham Fellowship, Attingham Program in British Art; the Lois F. McNeil Fellowship, Winterthur Museum; and the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for International Study, Watson Foundation.

Dr. Venable serves on the advisory board for the Decorative Arts Society, National Design Museum and is a representative to F.R.A.M.E (French Regional American Museum Exchange). He is a member of the American Association of Museums and the American Association of Curators. Dr. Venable has a Bachelor of Arts in American History and Art History from Rice University, a Master of Arts in Fine and Decorative Arts from the University of Delaware, and a doctorate in American Studies from Boston University.