Deborah Johnson

Dr. Deborah Johnson is Professor of Art and Art History at Providence College, specializing in 19th-21st century American and European art. Focusing her interests particularly on material culture since 1945, she is also on the faculty of the Women's Studies Department, which she helped found in 1993 and of which she is former Director, and teaches regularly in the Black Studies Program and the American Studies Program. Prior to her arrival at Providence College, she worked for over 15 years as a museum curator and administrator, primarily at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. She continues to exercise her interests in museum work by teaching museum studies courses and serving on the Committees for the Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery and the Reilly Gallery at Providence College, as well as juries at the Rhode Island Foundation and several area museums and granting agencies. In 2006, she was appointed Manager of Public Art for the State of Rhode Island through which she helped to direct the federal program 1% for Art. In 2013, she was awarded a Certificate in Jewish Sacred Music by Hebrew College and serves as a cantor at Temple Habonim in Barrington.