By CGN Staff

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) has announced the appointment of Ionit Behar, PhD, as Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, a position endowed in 2012 by philanthropists Marilyn and Larry Fields. Dr. Behar will join the museum on February 9, 2026.

Grounded in Latin American and Latinx art, understood as an expansive and continually shifting field, Dr. Behar’s curatorial practice centers artists, practices, and forms of labor that have been historically excluded from dominant narratives. Her work is shaped by research-driven exhibition making and long-term collaboration with artists, moving across cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary contexts.

“Ionit brings a remarkable combination of intellectual rigor, curatorial insight, and an unwavering commitment to community,” said Dr. Joey Orr, Deputy Director and Chief of Curatorial Affairs at the MCA. “Her appointment will further strengthen the museum’s legacy as a home for artists, audiences, and communities.”

“It has been a dream of mine to work at the MCA since I arrived in Chicago more than fourteen years ago,” said Dr. Behar. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to join the museum at this moment and look forward to collaborating across departments while continuing my commitment to supporting Chicago-based artists alongside artists working internationally.”

Dr. Behar most recently served as Curator at DePaul Art Museum, where she organized exhibitions including Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete (2026), Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle: A Want for Nothing (2025), Selva Aparicio: In Memory Of (2024), and LatinXAmerican (2021), among others. Recent independent projects include Del Otro Lado (2023) at O’Hare International Airport; 50 años (2023) at SUBTE, Montevideo; and Nelly Agassi: No Limestone, Nor Marble (2022) at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Previously, she served as Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Spertus Institute and as a research assistant for Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium (2017) at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dr. Behar holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BA from Tel Aviv University.

Newly appointed Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator Dr. Ionit Behar. Photo by Maria Ponce Berre.