Cathy Klimaszewski

cathy
Honorary House Fellow
Associate Director and Ames Curator of Education
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
crk7@cornell.edu

Cathy Rosa Klimaszewski is Associate Director and Ames Curator of Education at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Ms. Klimaszewski grew up in a small town in Northern Pennsylvania in a family of six children, five girls and one boy. She has had an interest in art since childhood when she persisted in drawing on every available surface (including the sidewalk) and messing up the house with clay, tempera paint, and papier-mâché concoctions. As a grown person she worked as an artist and educator after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University, before pursuing a career in museums. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in museum studies, also from SU, and enjoys bringing art and people together at the Johnson Museum. Her areas of interest in the museum field are public access, education, and textiles. She is married to an artist, Nicolai, who is Associate Professor of Art at Tompkins Cortland Community College; they have two children, Zoe, age 8, and Josh, 28. In addition to art and anything to do with museums, she is interested in gardening, cooking, reading fiction, films, theatre, singing, cross country skiing, and advocating for children and adults with special needs.