Kate Lewis

Kate Lewis was appointed Agnes Gund Chief Conservator of The Museum of Modern Art’s David Booth Conservation Center and Department in 2017. She joined the Museum as Media Conservator in 2013. Ms. Lewis directs all aspects of conservation, including collection care, treatment, display, and scientific research. She currently leads a major initiative funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to address issues surrounding the long-term preservation of media-based works. The five-year program, begun in 2016, centers on training postgraduate fellows and promotes collaborative professional training.

During her time at MoMA, Ms. Lewis has been instrumental in expanding best practices for the acquisition, documentation, and storage of media works, and she oversaw the implementation of a new digital repository. A versatile museum conservator with two decades of experience across conservation specialties, including works on paper, photographs, and time-based media, she provides key professional and intellectual leadership for the Museum’s well-established conservation program.

From 2005 to 2013, Ms. Lewis was a time-based media conservator at Tate, London. She participates in a number of international projects focused on education and advocacy, including the TechFocus Workshop series organized by the American Institute for Conservation’s Electronic Media Group, providing detailed technical education in media art; and Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA), a nonprofit organization addressing the production, presentation, and preservation of contemporary art through dialogue with artists.

Ms. Lewis received a BA (1994) in art history from The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and an MA (1997) in the conservation of works of art on paper from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle.