Our April Curator Profile features Laura Beacom, Curator of Collections at Museo de las Americas in Denver Colorado. Before taking on this role, Laura interned with Museo at the suggestion of her mentor, Carlos Fresquez. She worked within an off-campus campus gallery, eventually becoming Assistant Gallery Manager until she was offered her current position in 2018.

     While she entered the museum world, Laura was also gaining her BFA in Painting from Metropolitan State University. Driven by her love of art, Laura was “committed to finding a position in the arts.” This commitment, alongside an opportunity to work with the Denver Art Museum, led her to pursue collections work. She continued volunteering in Museo’s collection after her internship ended with the hope to establish ties to the museum. “I was confident that if I learned the collections at Museo and ‘paid my dues,’” she explains. “that the position would open for me.” It turns out her instincts were correct. When the position of Curator of Collections became available, her experience in exhibitions and her intimate knowledge of Museo’s collections made her the perfect fit.

     Laura finds her average day a busy one that’s never dull! Acting as the collections manager, she researches, documents, and houses over 4,500 objects. These objects include textiles and the costumes of Latin America. Working with these artifacts made Laura realize that “the history of textiles and fashion in South and Central America is fascinating!” In addition to knowing the intricacies of these objects, she’s also responsible for loans, donations, and the contents of temporary exhibits at Museo. Her tasks don’t end there–in addition, she is in charge of traveling exhibits displayed in public spaces like libraries and the exhibits within Museo itself.

     One of the exhibits Laura created is currently on view until July 23, 2022. The exhibition, Malinalli on the Rocks, “provides opportunities for Latinx and Chicanx artists to explore and re-discover one of the most enigmatic historical figures of the Americas: La Malinche. For centuries Malinche’s legacy has been shrouded in mystery and today is no different than when she first encountered the Spaniards. If we remove the patriarchal lens and Eurocentric vantage, what we confront is a powerful presence, a woman that survived and overcame adversity.” This exhibit will explore this important figure through artistic interpretations and historical facts, challenging the way she is remembered.

     Whether creating traveling exhibitions or ones in Museo’s gallery space, Laura also writes the interpretations and installs the exhibits. In fact, the amount of writing and research involved in her position was one of her job’s pleasant surprises! The other pleasant surprise was learning more about the amazing peoples of Latin America. She notes that they “make thoughtful artwork that is rich in content” The opportunity to learn more is an aspect that she finds “interesting and exciting!”

     The closeness she feels to the collection is evident in her favorite part of her role as Curator of Collections. Laura describes her “best moment” as the arrival of new artwork, which she gets to open and examine as curator. That and the quiet mornings when she is alone in the museum. In those magic moments, Laura says that she “realizes that I am working my dream job.” When asked for advice to her younger self, Laura says “I would encourage myself to read and write more. Also, to learn Spanish.”

     In April 2022, Laura 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 Stephanie Ray

Pictured from left to right: Huipil made by the Nahua peoples of Mexico, circa 1955; Laura Beacom; leather death costume, complete with wooden skeletons, circa 1930, from Mexico

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