Petra Slinkard has been at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts for three and a half years as the Director of Curatorial Affairs and Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles. Before this position, she spent time at the Chicago History Museum and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Her educational background includes a BS in Fashion Merchandising, BA in Art History, and MS in Fashion History.

     Fashion has always had a pull on Ms. Slinkard and that was a large part of what drew her to the collection at PEM. She explains, “I have always been drawn to the who, what, where and why of dress.” This passion holds true in her day-to-day work. While, like many museum employees, a large part of each day is taken up by emails and meetings, a good day is still defined as “spent in museum storage working with and learning from the collection or in the gallery with the team.” Ms. Slinkard finds that the most challenging and most unique aspect of her role at the museum comes down to the same factor—wearing two hats as both a curator and the Director of Curatorial Affairs. Even with that, she still gives one simple reason for being in the museum field: “I love what I do!”

     “The moment that gives me the most joy is when I learn that a person who thinks fashion is dumb or frivolous (self-professed) leaves an experience we put forward-thinking differently and re-evaluating the impact and importance of design in our society,” Ms. Slinkard said, before closing with this advice for her younger self: “believe in yourself and your ideas. Patience does pay off!”

     In July 2021, Petra Slinkard was featured in a Dress & Drinks webinar that can be seen on our YouTube channel. You can check out all of our Curator Profiles by clicking here.


~Profile written by Lauren Clark

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