Suzette McAvoy is an independent curator, arts writer, and museum consultant with more than thirty-five years experience in the field of fine art and museums. A leading authority on the art and artists of Maine, she has curated more than sixty exhibitions throughout her career, including nationally traveling exhibitions of the work of Louise Nevelson, Kenneth Noland, Lois Dodd, Karl Schrag, Alan Magee, and Alex Katz.
From 2010-2020, Suzette served as Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA), where she spearheaded the institution’s $5.2 million capital campaign and relocation to a newly constructed building designed by internationally-renowned architect Toshiko Mori, which opened in Rockland, Maine, in summer 2016. Prior to her tenure at CMCA, she served 12 years as Chief Curator at the Farnsworth Art Museum. In 2013, she was recognized as one of the Fifty People Who Have Made a Difference in Maine by Maine magazine.
Before moving to Maine in fall 1988, Suzette was Director of the University of Rhode Island Art Galleries, Kingston, Rhode Island, and also worked at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, and the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. She has served as Adjunct Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Maine, and as a Lecturer for the Smithsonian Journeys Program. From August 2008-August 2010, she was a contributing arts writer for Maine Home + Design magazine. She lives in Belfast, Maine.