Friday, May 27, 2005 | 8:32 a.m.
Nearly two years ago it seemed Las Vegas was losing Libby Lumpkin for good.
After learning she might not be tenured at UNLV, the art professor, lecturer, author and critic left to take a job at Long Beach State.
Now Lumpkin, who is married to art critic Dave Hickey, is back in Las Vegas as a fellow at the International Institute of Modern Letters and a new consulting executive director at the Las Vegas Art Museum.
Lumpkin replaces Karen Barrett, who will oversee finances at the museum.
"We got very lucky," Barrett said, referring to the hiring of Lumpkin. "She knows everyone. She's well connected nationally and internationally. Las Vegas will benefit greatly."
LVAM was to have formally announced Lumpkin's arrival at a news conference this morning. Lumpkin is the founding curator of the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. She will have the lead staff position at LVAM and work with James Mann, LVAM's curator at large, on exhibits.
She has taught at Yale and Harvard universities and served as visiting lecturer at Umea University in Umea, Sweden. While at UNLV, Lumpkin was curator for the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery.
At Long Beach state, Lumpkin served as director of the Museum Studies Program and Assistant Professor of Art History.
Her books include "Deep Design: Nine little Art Histories" and such gallery catalogues as "The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: European and American Masters."
Barrett said the addition of Lumpkin will continue to move the museum forward.
"It's ideal," Barrett said. "Our product is first and foremost art, alongside, that is, our educational program. We've come a long way in the last couple of years. We're moving forward."
The museum formed 55 years ago as the Las Vegas Art League and operated several years out of Lorenzi Park before moving to its facility on West Sahara Avenue.
In the past three or four years there were directorial shake-ups, including the arrival and departure of Marianne Lorenz, who was partly responsible for Mann leaving the museum. Mann returned a year later as curator at large. When Lorenz left, director Joseph Palermo took over as consulting executive director before Barrett took over the position in the fall of 2003.
Barrett said she will stay at the museum and focus on development, fund raising and finance management.
"My skills are business skills," Barrett said. "Now we're ready to go forward artistically."
This weekend the museum opens its new exhibits "Asian Art Now 2005" and "George Hunter -- Images of Canada: The People, The Land."
Past exhibits include works by local artists Palermo, Austine Wood Comarow, Susanne Forestieri and Roberta Baskin Shefrin. Additionally, the museum has shown work by New York City abstract painter Marlene Tseng Yu, American sculptor Frederick Hart and Fernando Botero.
Its new exhibit replaces a group exhibition of Sante Fe artists working in classical styles.
Lumpkin did not return calls for this story, but in a Sun story that ran July 31, 2003, Lumkin said that she "loved" Las Vegas and that she hated to leave.
Barrett added, "Libby and Dave have retained their interest in Las Vegas. They like living here. This is a logical association for Libby because it complements her efforts on the academic side."
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