After five years of leadership at The Gund — Kenyon’s nationally accredited, world-class contemporary art museum — Daisy Desrosiers has been appointed the Britton Family Curator-at-Large, North America, at Tate Modern, effective June 1. She will remain actively engaged with The Gund and the College, continuing to guide its curatorial mission.
The Gund’s extraordinary collection and deep commitment to the academic program have provided fertile ground for Desrosiers’ bold leadership. She joined the museum in June 2021 and was named the inaugural David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation Director and Chief Curator. She has steered the institution’s growth into its second impressive decade, culminating in national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) in April 2025. The Gund’s reach has since extended beyond campus while reinforcing its role as a teaching museum grounded in experimentation, access, and critical engagement. Desrosiers has developed a program that places artists and students at the center while cultivating meaningful connections between local and global contexts. She is also responsible for managing the multifaceted care for The Gund’s growing collection, which includes more than 450 pieces of contemporary art and important promised gifts on the horizon.
Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, The Gund will host dedicated exhibitions and roving artist conversations and announce major new acquisitions, leading up to a large on-campus celebration this fall. Works in the growing permanent collection include seminal pieces by artists such as Romare Bearden, Sophie Calle, Vija Celmins, Ann Hamilton, Ragnar Kjartansson, Julie Mehretu, Gerhard Richter, Faith Ringgold, Lorna Simpson, Richard Serra, Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, and Mickalene Thomas.
“Leading The Gund at Kenyon College over these past five years has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my career,” Desrosiers said. “The Gund is a place of boundless possibility — a space where art, teaching, and community come together in ways that continue to shape me deeply. Together, we have built a curatorial model grounded in experimentation, critical engagement, and access, while remaining deeply attentive to the specific community and conditions that make this work meaningful.”
Supported by the Britton Family Foundation, “Desrosiers will enable Tate to continue broadening its approaches to modern and contemporary art, forging new relationships with artists, scholars and curators in the region, and contributing to exhibitions and projects at Tate’s galleries,” the institution shared in a statement.
“The Gund at Kenyon has been the vanguard for cultivating self-discovery and community dialogue through world-class art, creativity and academic inquiry,” President Julie Kornfeld said. “Daisy’s impact has been transformative for the institution and it will be exciting to see her take on this new and incredible opportunity at Tate Modern while continuing to provide artistic vision and curatorial direction at The Gund.”
Desrosiers serves on the advisory committee of Fogo Island Arts and on the board of directors of the Art Gallery at University College Cork. In 2025-2026, she served as co-curator of the 15th Shanghai Biennale, contributing to one of the most significant global platforms for contemporary art. She was a 2023 fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership in New York City, mentored by Glenn D. Lowry.
About The Gund: The Gund believes in expanding the museum's role as a nexus of connection, critical learning and collective imagination. Its growing permanent collection of more than 450 modern and contemporary works features seminal pieces by artists such as Faith Ringgold, Richard Serra, Kiki Smith, Romare Bearden, Gerhard Richter, Nancy Spero, and Ragnar Kjartansson. Through high-quality exhibitions and programming within and beyond campus, The Gund invites a deeper understanding of ourselves and our society among Kenyon students and the broader community. It encourages learning about art as a community through The Annex, opened in downtown Mount Vernon in 2023. Along with the Kenyon Review and Kenyon’s Philander Chase Conservancy land trust, The Gund champions the power of art as an agent of change and the College’s vital role in stewarding our local environment as a place to learn, live and grow together. The Gund is a member of the Ohio Arts Council and W.A.G.E. (Working Artists in the Greater Economy) and an institutional member of both the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries and the American Alliance of Museums, through which it recently achieved accreditation.
About Tate: Tate celebrates the world’s greatest modern and contemporary art and the best of British art from 1500 to today. Every year it welcomes millions of people to its four galleries — Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives — to enjoy unforgettable exhibitions, spectacular commissions and unique events. At its heart is a growing collection of over 75,000 artworks, ranging from paintings and sculptures to installations and performances. Tate cares for this collection on behalf of the public and, as one of the world’s biggest lenders of art, shares it with museums and galleries throughout the U.K. and across the globe.
About Kenyon College: Founded in 1824, Kenyon College is the oldest private college in Ohio and the first institution in the U.S. to implement the model of faculty members serving as academic advisors. With a curriculum rooted in the liberal arts, Kenyon students and faculty aspire to a nuanced understanding of the world and all who inhabit it. Kenyon is a top producer of Fulbright Fellows and ranks second among Division III institutions for fostering NCAA Postgraduate Scholars. Home to the Kenyon Review, one of the nation’s most esteemed literary magazines, Kenyon celebrates a rich literary tradition that promotes writing across academic disciplines.