Leadership

Brian Ferriso is the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. Ferriso joined the DMA in December 2025, following nearly 20 years as Director of the Portland Art Museum (PAM). Ferriso comes to the DMA—the anchor of Dallas’s vibrant Arts District—with nearly three decades of leadership experience, demonstrated success leading major capital projects and a deep commitment to community engagement and accessibility.

From 2006 to 2025, PAM thrived under Ferriso’s guiding principles of art, access, and accountability. Ferriso led all aspects of the institution, including setting the curatorial vision and overseeing exhibitions, along with acquisitions and the care and continued growth of the museum’s permanent collection. During his tenure, he more than doubled the PAM's curatorial staff and permanently endowed almost half of those positions, increased the endowment by $40 million, and eliminated $7 million in unfunded debt. Committed to expanding opportunities for learning and access, Ferriso also created the Art Access Endowment at PAM, which supports free admission in perpetuity for children 17 and under, free school tours, and family free days. Under his leadership, PAM served as the co-presenting institution for the space in which to place me (2024), Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale—the first solo presentation by an Indigenous artist for the U.S. Pavilion.  

At the helm of PAM’s expansion and renovation project—opened to the public on November 20, 2025—Ferriso led the fundraising of more than $140 million for the construction and endowment of the revitalized museum campus. Designed in partnership by Portland’s Hennebery Eddy Architects and Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects, the new glass Rothko Pavilion knit together the museum’s two historic buildings by Pietro Belluschi and Frederick Fritsch and added nearly 100,000 square feet of public and gallery spaces, providing increased access to PAM’s exhibitions and programs, new ways to experience its robust collection, and new amenities that address the needs of more diverse audiences. The project bolstered the Museum’s role as a “cultural commons” for the city of Portland and follows the 2023 opening of the PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow, an off-campus space that presents film and new media in Southeast Portland and expands the museum’s presence and reach across the city.  

Ferriso drove the diversification of PAM’s collection to incorporate more works by underrepresented artists, with an emphasis on acquiring works by women, Native American, and Black artists, as well as by other artists of color. He also worked to expand engagement with the Native American community and its representation within the museum, including creating a new Assistant Curator of Native American Art position, adding Native American representation to the museum’s Board, and establishing a Native American Advisory Committee to provide guidance on exhibitions and programs.

Other notable exhibitions organized by PAM under Ferriso’s tenure include Black Artists of Oregon (2023); Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal… (2019); Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection (2015); and The Enclave: Richard Mosse (2014). Ferriso initiated a series of single-work exhibitions and curated several of these, including Titian’s La Bella (2011), Thomas Moran’s Shoshone Falls on the Snake River (2010) and Raphael’s La Donna Velata (2009). He also launched a series of highly successful design-focused exhibitions exploring the influence of art and design on architecture, fashion, consumer goods, and luxury products, including Cyclepedia: Iconic Bicycle Design (2013).

Prior to joining the Portland Art Museum, Ferriso served as Director of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK, from 2002 to 2006. He has also held positions as Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Milwaukee Art Museum and as Assistant Director at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago.

Ferriso received a BA in economics from Bowdoin College, an MA in arts administration from New York University, and an MA in art history from the University of Chicago. He is a past Trustee and President (2016-2017) of the Association of Art Museum Directors; a Trustee of the American Federation of Arts and Chair of its exhibitions committee; and a member of American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and CEO, Chief Executives Organization. Ferriso is the recipient of the 2012 Excellency Award from the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, and a member of the International Council Museum Berggruen Berlin. He is also a practicing artist, using training that he acquired while studying with Frank Mason of the Art Students League in New York City. 

Fern Johnson 
Gene Jones 
Aasem Khalil 
Max Lamont 
Nicolette Lamont 
Ken Lee 
Todd Lemkin 
Barbara Thomas Lemmon (Benefactor) 
Carol Levy 
Cristina Lynch 
Venu Menon  
Vipin Nambiar 
Jessica Nowitzki 
Jim Nugent (Office of Arts and Culture) 
Daniel O’Grady (Treasurer) 
Lucilo Peña 
Adriana Perales  
Andrea Perez (Legal) 
Arthur Primas 
Kelli Questrom (Benefactor) 
Cindy Rachofsky (The Rachofsky Fund) 
Howard Rachofsky (The Rachofsky Fund) 
Katherine Perot Reeves 
Nancy C. Rogers 
Deedie Rose 
Lizzie Routman (Foundation for the Arts) 
John Runyon 
Peggy Sewell 
Gowri N. Sharma (President) 
Amanda Shufeldt
Marcia Dunn Sobel 
Gayle Stoffel 
Kalu K. Ugwuomo, Jr. 
Brena Ward (Junior League Dallas) 
Clinton Warren 
Laura Wise (DMA Junior Associates) 
Sharon Young (Chairman)