MMoCA Announces Departure of Gabriele Haberland Director Christina Brungardt

MADISON, WI—After over 3 years at the helm of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA), Christina Brungardt, the Gabriele Haberland Director, has announced her departure from MMoCA. 

When Brungardt arrived at MMoCA early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum was clad in plywood and faced an uncertain future. Under her leadership, MMoCA reemerged from the stay-at-home orders as a stronger organization, recommitted to serving the entirety of the region with an international expansion in exhibition programming. 

Colin B. Good, President of the MMoCA Board of Trustees shares, “Christina has played a critical role in the development and success of the organization, allowing it to fulfill its mission to provide transformative experiences that educate, reflect, and inspire us as individuals and a community. Her leadership and vision will long endure past her tenure here. We want to thank her for her years of dedicated service and significant accomplishments.” 

Some highlights include:

• Transforming the former Museum store into the exhibition space, The Shop, which breaks down real and perceived barriers to contemporary art through exhibitions such as AMENDS by Nick Cave and Bob Faust.
• Bringing in guest curators to expand the perspectives behind the art that is exhibited. 
• Building the permanent collection with key acquisitions of work by artists such as Mel Chin, Hannah Price, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Guanyu Xu, and the counter-monument by Faisal Abdu’Allah that stands in front of the building. 
• Curating five exhibitions including RECOLLECT: Sam Gilliam which is currently on view and imaginary i, which opens on November 11, 2023.
• Standardizing financial compensation for all exhibiting artists and participants.
• Securing a ten-year reaccreditation with notations of exemplary practice with the American Alliance of Museums. 
• Enhancing MMoCA’s youth education programming with the Teen Forum.

Dr. Brungardt notified the Board of Trustees that she had accepted a compelling offer at a cultural organization in Texas. On behalf of the trustees, Good states, “Our gratitude for Christina and her contributions and dedication is unbounded. We look forward to following her successes while ensuring the organization’s bright future.”

The MMoCA Board of Trustees is in the process of identifying an Interim Director and will begin a national search for the next Gabriele Haberland Director.