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organizes Focus, a program that introduces emerging and under- recognized mid-career artists. Each year, after three solo exhibitions, a work or group of works from each show is held for the museum's annual purchase meeting, where museum donors vote to add one work to the permanent collection, a choice that helps shape the Modern's cultural footprint. Hearst is committed to diversifying the collection, with more works by women and artists of color. "Things are beginning to change incrementally, for the better," she says, mentioning SFMOMA's recent sale of a Mark Rothko work to fund acquisitions by diverse artists, and similar moves by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario. "Museums are making strides to correct the Western, male- centric, art-historical narrative that has been dominant since the beginning, with recent acquisitions and exhibitions," she says. "There's still a lot of work to be done." Her vision for Focus has resulted in the acquisition of works by artists Lorna Simpson, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Mario García Torres, Kamrooz Aram, and Thomas Demand. Hailing from all corners of the globe, Hearst shares "I am always aiming to make this program international, but I also show artists of all ages and stages of their career." Hearst is fresh off the success of her recently closed exhibition "Robyn O'Neil: We, The Masses," which explored the artist's career from 2000 to the present. It was one of the largest shows Hearst has put on during her tenure at the Modern and it drew more than 50,000 visitors. Her next show — the eagerly anticipated "Mark Bradford: End Papers" (March 8 – August 9) — where she is acting as the in-house curator alongside the organizing curator, Michael Auping promises an even bigger audience. And, as part of the Focus series, she will be opening a Marina Adams exhibition this month featuring abstract paintings that explore the balance between color and shape (March 27 – May 24). Does Hearst miss her renegade days with Subtext? Maybe just a little. "I would be open to doing something outside of the Modern's walls again," she says. "I do think I still bring a lot of that can-do, DIY spirit with me into my practice within the institution, and I continue trying to present works that are perhaps unconventional, whatever that means, or difficult to show." The embers from her rebellious punk rock soul are still smoldering. At the next Modern opening we hope to see her wearing that vintage "Bougie" T-shirt, which she proudly shares, is still hanging in her closet. Marina Adams' Cheops, 2018 (continued from page 38) A ROARING START TO AT THE MODERN 2020 T he year may be young, but it's already the roaring '20s at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The social season kicked off with a celebration of Syrian mixed-media artist Hrair Sarkissian and his provocative debut solo exhibition in Texas. Donors and members of the Modern's director's council met guest curator Omar Kholeif, senior curator at the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates. After a reception in the beautiful Tadao Ando-designed Café Modern, Bonhams hosted an elegant private dinner for friends and family of the artist and museum patrons. The well-appointed donors in the equally well-appointed galleries: Angela Wonderly, Connie Beck and Frank Tilley, Michael Corman, Mary Holm, Beth Gideon, and Randi and Mark Thistlewaite. The Modern marked rodeo season with a party celebrating New York artist Red Groom's Ruckus Rodeo, an immersive piece that covers 1,237 square feet of gallery space and hasn't been exhibited since 2005. The artist affectionately calls it his "sculp- to-pictorama"; it consists of painted two-dimensional surfaces and sculptural three-dimensional figures and was first commissioned by the museum for its 1976 exhibition "The Great American Rodeo." Guests enjoying singer/songwriter Grady Spencer's country blues: Janie Beggs, Genie Guynn, Kim and Glenn Darden, and Vicki and Greg Cantwell. BY BILLY FONG. PHOTOGRAPHY BRAIDON CLEMENCE. Susan Scafati, Hrair Sarkissian Alison Hearst, Dr. Asad Dean Mary Holm, Sonja Moro Dr. Omar Kholeif Sloane Wessinger, Lauren Wessinger 40