Richard Woodward

Curator of African Art

Richard B. Woodward is the founding curator of the African art collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and since 1977 he has guided its development to include more than 1,000 works of art. Woodward received an MA in the history of art from the University of Virginia and a BA in the history of art from Rutgers University. A staff member of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts since 1975, he has held senior administrative positions in the museum for more than 30 years. In 2000 he served as Interim Director and from then until 2010 as Senior Deputy Director for Architecture and Design, during which time he coordinated planning and construction of the VMFA’s award-winning expansion project that substantially increased gallery space for the collections and exhibitions.