Estella Chung joining Wisconsin Historical Society as Chief Curator
For Immediate Release
Estella Chung, Wisconsin Historical
Society Chief Curator
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to announce that Estella Chung will be joining the agency on March 2, 2020 as chief curator.
“Ms. Chung’s depth and wide range of experience, including her interactions with diverse audiences and a strong track record of building collections and museum exhibitions, makes her well suited for the chief curator position at the Wisconsin Historical Society,” said Matt Blessing, state archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
With more than twenty five years of museum experience she will lead the curatorial section within the Library, Archives and Museum Collection division and work with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s museums and historic sites across the state. She will also play an integral role in the development of a new $120 million, 100,000 square-foot history museum.
Chung currently serves as the director of collections and curator of American material culture, historian and head of oral history at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C. The former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, esteemed collector, philanthropist, and business leader, Hillwood houses the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, 18th-century French decorative art, and Post’s personal collection of apparel and jewelry, set among 25 acres of formal gardens and surrounding woodlands. Chung joined the staff in 2007 and for over a decade conducted research into Post’s personal history, abundant good works, and the inner workings of her former homes and estates.
Her research resulted in the two publications, Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Life Behind the Luxury (2019) and Living Artfully: At Home with Marjorie Merriweather Post (2013). Prior to Hillwood, Chung was associate curator of popular culture at the Autry National Center/Museum of the American West, in Los Angeles, and as assistant curator at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles.
Chung earned a M.A. in American Civilization from Brown University, and a B.A. in American Culture from the University of Michigan. She was also selected for the prestigious Attingham Summer School.