Christian Keesee

Founder and President:

New York-based philanthropist Christian Keesee is the president of Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City and founder of Marfa Contemporary. He serves as a trustee of two charitable foundations, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and the Kirkpatrick Foundation, both of which are very focused on Arts and Arts Education. Keesee is a board member of American Ballet Theatre in New York, the American Friends of the Tate in London, and National Committee Member of the Humane Society of the United States.

Originally from Oklahoma City, where he focuses his attention on philanthropic issues, he is also co-founder of the Greenbox Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, where his family has spent summers since 1899.

Mary Ann Prior

Executive Director:

Mary Ann Prior is Executive Director for Marfa Contemporary and Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City.

Prior is a curator and art adviser whose professional career has been divided between Britain and the United States. 

Her study, while at the Royal College of Art, of the life and work of Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910) was awarded the Penguin Book Prize.

 

Dr. Natalie Maria Roncone

Gallery Administrator:

Dr. Natalie Maria Roncone is Gallery Administrator for Marfa Contemporary.

In this role, Dr. Roncone will manage the day-to-day operations of Marfa Contemporary and serve as local spokesperson.  Other responsibilities include implementation of artist-in-residence and international exchange programs, curator, hosting visiting artists, speakers, guest curators and scholars, assisting with the development and growth of educational activities and community outreach, and actively seeking cultural, educational and artistic partnerships locally and internationally.

Roncone earned her Ph.D. in the History of Art at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Dr. Roncone is the most recent recipient of the coveted Solomon R. Guggenheim Hilla Rebay International Curatorial Fellowship.

She has distinguished herself as an expert in 20th Century Abstract Expressionism under the guidance of world-renowned art historian Dr. David Anfam, and has served as a part-time lecturer for the Dept. of Art History at the University of St. Andrews from 2007 through 2011. 

Her Ph.D. thesis was “Jackson Pollock 1930-1955: The Influence of the Old Masters.”

Dr. Roncone is a published author with numerous articles appearing in various arts industry publications including Artes Magazine and The Burlington Magazine.

She is a member of the Association of Art Historians, the College Art Association and the Scottish Society of Art Historians.
 

Contact: 432.729.3500, [email protected]