Biography
Jesse M. Kowalski, Curator of Exhibitions, joined Norman Rockwell Museum in 2015. Since coming on board, he has curated Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration, Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning, Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol, The Art & Wit of Rube Goldberg, Superheroes and Superstars: The Art of Alex Ross, and Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi, and is currently preparing additional exhibitions.
Prior to joining Norman Rockwell Museum, Kowalski served as Director of Exhibitions at The Andy Warhol Museum, where he was employed for eighteen of the Museum’s twenty years, curating many of the Warhol Museum’s popular traveling and in-house exhibitions over the last several years, including Andy Warhol: Portraits (the most comprehensive survey of the artist’s portraitures); The Prints of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again; and Heroes and Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross, which traveled to the Norman Rockwell Museum in 2012. In addition, Kowalski has developed cultural partnerships with museums, corporations, and governments while designing and overseeing the installation of exhibitions at dozens of museums in fifteen countries. He also designed and supervised the reinstallation of The Andy Warhol Museum’s permanent collection galleries in 2014.
Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Kowalski began working at The Andy Warhol Museum in 1996, as part of an internship through the College of the Atlantic, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1997.