about natalie

Natalie Mead is the Chief Curator at the Huntsville Museum of Art, where she brings nearly two decades of museum experience to her work in American and European art. Known for curating immersive and engaging exhibitions, she blends storytelling, spatial design, and audience interaction to create meaningful museum experiences for diverse audiences.

Before joining the Huntsville Museum of Art, Mead served as Curator at the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, TN, where she reinterpreted historic collections through contemporary perspectives and visitor engagement. She has also held curatorial roles at Preserve Louisiana, the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, and other cultural institutions in the American South.

Mead holds a master’s degree in 19th-century European art from Louisiana State University and a bachelor’s in studio art from Knox College. She has presented at the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and various national and international conferences. Her published contributions include The Visual Blues (University of Washington Press, 2014) and Treasures of LSU (LSU Press, 2010). An active member of the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC), she was the recipient of the inaugural Curators Award for Outstanding Curatorial Visions. A military brat who grew up overseas, Mead has a lifelong appreciation for how place and culture shape creative expression—a perspective that continues to influence her curatorial work today.