Virtual | Curatorial Perspective: ‘Cartier and Islamic Art’ at the Dallas Museum of Art, with Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, Sarah Schleuning

About the Curator

Sarah Schleuning is dedicated to presenting and promoting the power and impact of design to the public through exhibitions, publications, and programming. Schleuning has a record of organizing thoughtful exhibitions and programs that are not only high profile and highly popular, but also recognized for their contributions to scholarship. She has more than two decades of expertise in forming relationships with living designers and artists, bridging the gap between historical and contemporary design, and exploring how engaging with art and design can extend beyond museum walls. She is the Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Dallas Museum of Art, and her recent exhibitions and publications include the upcoming Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity, Electrifying Design: A Century of Lighting, and Curbed Vanity: A Contemporary Foil by Chris Schanck.

As Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, Schleuning oversees the decorative arts and design collection, internationally recognized as one of the foremost decorative arts collections in the United States. The collection includes more than 8,000 works of art from the 15th century to the present, with a strength in European and American decorative arts, most significantly 18th-century English silver, 19th- and 20th-century American silver and ceramics, and modern and contemporary jewelry and design. As the Museum focuses on the expansion of its contemporary holdings, Schleuning’s deep experience in working with and maintaining relationships with contemporary designers and artist is a significant asset, as is her interest in connecting design’s past and present. Among her other responsibilities, Schleuning also oversees the decorative arts and design collection planning, development, scholarship, and acquisitions.

Schleuning served as Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, from 2011 until 2018. She organized numerous exhibitions, including two of the 10 most attended exhibitions in the museum’s history. She was co-organizing curator for the nationally touring exhibition Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion, which broke attendance records and became the eighth most-attended show at the High Museum of Art. Other notable exhibitions that ranged from historical scholarship to pushing the conceived boundaries of what defines a museum exhibition were Technicolor: New Works by Jaime Hayon (2017); Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas (2014), the 10th most-attended show at the High Museum; Earl Pardon’s Portable Art: Jewelry & Design (2015); and Bangles to Benches: Contemporary Jewelry and Design (2013). From 2013 to 2018, she curated five dynamic and highly acclaimed designer interventions/playscapes that engages the community by activating the High’s Sifly Piazza, and through that established the designer-in-residency project.

Prior to joining the High Museum, Schleuning served as Curator at The Wolfsonian–Florida International University, having previously held positions as a Fellowship Coordinator and Assistant Curator at the institution, where she produced exhibitions, publications, and programs with a focus on highlighting the power and impact of art and design in daily life. Before that, she worked at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, beginning in 2000 as Curatorial Collections Fellow, advancing to Assistant Curator with a focus on art, architecture, craft, and design.

Schleuning graduated from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Arts. She received her Master of Arts in the History of Decorative Arts from Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in conjunction with Parsons School of Design. In 2015 she was a fellow at the Center for Curatorial Leadership. She frequently contributes to scholarly publications and serves as a leading resource for decorative arts and design, delivering lectures and speaking at symposiums and public programs throughout the country.