OC Art and Design alumnus named Director of OU’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

Thomas Brent Smith was chosen for one of Oklahoma’s top museum jobs.

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Photo courtesy of linkedin.com

Thomas Brent Smith, an Art and Design alumnus of Oklahoma Christian University, is finishing an impressive 13-year tenure as director of the Denver Museum of Art’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art. Before that, he served as the curator of art of the American West at the Tucson Museum of Art, but his next move will bring him much closer to OC.

Smith was chosen to lead the University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, one of the top museum jobs in the state, with plenty of support from the people who have followed his career.

“I worked with Thomas while he was an undergraduate at OC,” said David Crismon, OC professor of art and design. “I count him as a personal friend and have been in contact with him throughout his graduate work at OU and his subsequent positions at various museums. Thomas is great at what he does, and the University of Oklahoma has done very well to bring in such a young, notable and experienced director for their museum and institution.”

Read more about Smith and his accomplishments here.