Dr. Selma Holo
Executive Director | USC Museums | University of Southern California

Selma Holo received her doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981, in Art History specialising in Goya and the art of Spain. Her undergraduate studies were in Spanish language and literature. She has worked in museums and universities throughout her career, specialising as time went on in Museología. Her students have become curators and directors of museums and her influence in the world of museums has been widespread through her writing and lectures. Selma Holo's books include "Beyond the Prado: Museums and Identity in Democratic Spain; "Oaxaca at the Crossroads: Managing Memory, Negotiating Change"; Beyond the Turnstile: Making the Case for Museums and Sustainable Values" ; and Remix: Changing Conversations in Museums of the Americas". She is proud of her long years of work in Mexico with Graciela de la Torre with the International Museums Institute (IMI) in which they were both engaged for over fifteen years. Together they organised many conferences and panels and investigated the relationship of museums to the larger cultural world. They offered prizes to smaller art centers allowing them to experiment and create projects that enriched their offerings. Selma Holo was Curator of Acquisitions at the Norton Simon Museum before she moved to the University of Southern California where she was a Full Professor of Art History and Executive Director USC Museums for 40 year. She has just retired to pursued new projects.