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Executive Director

Alexa McCarthy, PhD

Photo courtesy of: Whitney Warne, Ivory House Photography

Prior to joining the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, Dr. Alexa McCarthy was most recently a Lecturer in Art History at the University of Southern Maine and a St Leonard’s Postgraduate Fellow at the University of St Andrews. She obtained her PhD from the University of St Andrews in 2022. Her dissertation, “Carta azzurra / blauw papier: Drawing on blue paper in Italy and the Netherlands, ca. 1450-ca. 1660” explores the origins and impetus behind the use of blue paper in the early modern period. She was co-organizer of the international online conference "Venice in Blue: The use of carta azzurra in the Artist’s Studio and in the Printer’s Workshop, ca. 1500-50" and was co-editor of the corresponding volume, which was published by Leo S. Olschki Editore in 2024 . Before beginning her PhD programme in 2019, Dr. McCarthy held positions at The Leiden Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Christie’s. She has published and lectured on a range of topics from early modern to contemporary art. She holds a BA in Art History from Bowdoin College and an MA in Art History from The Courtauld Institute of Art.