New director of University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer art museum shares her vision and goals

 In September, Olivia Miller returned to Eugene to start her new position as the executive director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. She earned a master’s degree in art history from UO in 2009 and most recently served as the director of the University of Arizona’s Museum of Art in Tucson.     Miller curated two exhibits at UA’s art museum that featured works selected from Schnitzer’s vast art collection, including “The Art of Food,” which traveled to Portland State University in 2022 and other locations around the nation.   Miller joins us to share her experience so far leading the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at UO, as well as her priorities and future plans for it, which may include offering a class on art theft. It’s a subject Miller has some experience with after successfully leading the return and restoration of a painting by abstract artist Willem de Kooning that was stolen from University of Arizona’s art museum four decades ago.