Episode 0010: Catherine Whitney - David Hockney and the Science of Art

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0700

In this episode, Kendall talks with Catherine Whitney, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Catherine co-curated David Hockney: Works from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation, currently on view at the Portland Art Museum through July 26.

Catherine traces her path into museum work back to her grandmother, who handed her an art kit the moment she walked in the door. She went to college as a studio art major (picking art over medicine partly to avoid calculus), then found herself pulled toward art history instead. After landing an administrative job in the conservation department at the National Gallery in DC, she moved into museum education, went to grad school, and eventually became an art dealer at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, representing Georgia O’Keeffe’s estate for close to 15 years. When her father got sick, she considered going back to school for medicine. Her brother, a doctor, talked her out of it: “Stay doing what you’re doing. You can change lives in your own way.” She returned to museum work, became a chief curator in the Midwest, and moved to Honolulu during COVID.

Catherine Whitney on So Many Questions

Episode 0010: Catherine Whitney - David Hockney and the Science of Art