Anne Thompson

Anne Thompson is the Director and Curator of the Suzanne Lemberg Usdan Gallery and a Visual Arts faculty member at Bennington College. She joined the College in 2017, curating exhibitions and public programs that intersect with liberal arts themes while teaching curatorial studies courses.

• Education: BA from Vassar College, MA from the Missouri School of Journalism, and MFA from the Yale School of Art.

Her curatorial practice emphasizes political critique, site-specificity, and challenging institutional boundaries. She founded the nationally acclaimed I-70 Sign Show, a public-art project using interstate billboards for cultural commentary. Thompson’s exhibitions, such as Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal (2024) and Connected Diaspora (2023), engage with contemporary art and social narratives, often involving student collaborations like the For Freedoms/50 States initiative. Her courses, including Mail Art and Delights of Ephemera, integrate hands-on creative practices with theoretical frameworks.

As a key figure in Bennington’s artistic community, Thompson connects campus life with regional and national art dialogues, influencing Vermont’s cultural landscape through partnerships with institutions like the Dorset Theatre Festival and Art Omi.