Jacqueline Terrassa to Conclude Museum Directorship in 2026

Terrassa joined the Colby College Museum in 2020 and has expanded its civic footprint, community engagement, national and international reputation, while overseeing many significant exhibitions. By building partnerships and community, her collaborative leadership has been instrumental in expanding access to the museum and creating a thriving arts ecosystem in downtown Waterville, including the openings of the Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center and Greene Block + Studios. 

She has helped guide the programmatic expansion of the Lunder Institute for American Art, overseen the development of valued learning and community engagement programs, and honed an acquisitions strategy that builds on the collection’s strengths while adding dimension to the museum’s holdings.

Terrassa forged new partnerships for scholarship and exhibitions, including with Tate Britain on a new James McNeill Whistler exhibition featuring several artworks from the Colby Museum collection, and championed Lunder Institute collaborations with museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and many others.

Notable exhibitions organized by the Colby Museum during her tenure include Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village, two major Alex Katz exhibitions, Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery, and the upcoming exhibition Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas, among others. 

Terrassa described her six years at the Colby Museum as “deeply meaningful” and said she was leaving the museum in a position of strength, poised for a new phase of growth. She will work in collaboration with the Museum Board of Governors through the calendar end of the year to help ensure a smooth transition.

“Reflecting on my time here, I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together. Over the last six years, the Colby Museum has become an even more foundational pillar of our local and regional community, democratizing access to art,” she said. “Through inclusive and experimental practices as well as transformational acquisitions for our already extraordinary collection, we have broadened the narratives of American art.”