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Western Samoa RPCV Terrie Sultan to Receive French Medal of Honor
Western Samoa RPCV Terrie Sultan to Receive French Medal of Honor
Terrie Sultan to Receive French Medal of Honor
Mr. Denis Simonneau, Consul General of France in Houston, will confer on Ms. Terrie Sultan, Director, Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of France's most prestigious distinctions for cultural achievement. Dr. Jay Gogue, UH System Chancellor and President, will participate in this exceptional event.
Throughout her career as a museum professional, Ms. Sultan has been involved in cultural exchanges between France and the United States, serving on the founding Artistic Committee of Étant donnés, The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, on which she remains a member emeritus. The Fund was created in response to the ever-increasing desire on the part of visual arts institutions to present the work of artists from both countries. Since its inception Étant donnés has granted some 100 projects, making it possible for hundreds of emerging French and American artists to participate in innovative exchanges.
Terrie Sultan has served as Director of Blaffer Gallery since 2000 and was the organizing curator of Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration. Ms. Sultan has organized more than 40 exhibitions and publications, and introduced the work of many emerging artists, often providing them their first museum exposure and interpretive writing. An accomplished author, in addition to Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration (Princeton University Press), she has published: Seeing and Believing: The Art of Nancy Burson, co-authored with Lynn Gumpert (Twin Palms Press, Santa Fe); Donald Lipski: A Brief History of Twine (Madison Art Center, distributed by DAP/Distributed Art Publishers, New York); Kerry James Marshall (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York); Ida Applebroog: Nothing Personal (Corcoran Gallery of Art, distributed by DAP/Distributed Art Publishers, New York), and several exhibition catalogues, including Angela Grauerholz: Reading Room for the Working Artist and Bob Knox: Non-Fiction Paintings (Blaffer Gallery), Painting Outside Painting, and Robert Morris: Inability to Endure or Deny the World (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Ms. Sultan has traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad and lectured on issues related to contemporary visual art and culture.
Blaffer Gallery is the University of Houston's laboratory for the visual arts and contemporary culture. Our innovative, challenging exhibitions, programs, and publications bring artists, the University community, and the people of Houston into closer engagements with each other and with the important cultural issues of our time.
The Order of Arts and Letters was established in 1957 to recognize eminent artists and writers, and people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. This Order consists of three ranks: Chevalier, Officier and Commandeur. Recipients of this distinction receive a certificate from the French Minister of Culture and are entitled to wear the insignia of this order, a medal suspended from a colored ribbon of white stripes against a green background. The names of Paul Auster, Marilyn Horne, Robert Paxton, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep can be found among the American recipients of this distinction.