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The Modern\u2019s director Halona Norton-Westbrook, left, speaks to a member of the museum\u2019s educational staff about the art created by teens during art camp sessions Aug. 8, 2025. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nHalona Norton-Westbrook closely examined the dozens of artworks hanging in a corridor of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, smiling at each painting\u2019s details.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On this early August day, the museum\u2019s education staff was showcasing pieces by teenagers who created works inspired by the Modern\u2019s permanent collection during art camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she strolled through the hall, Norton-Westbrook, 43, said she couldn\u2019t help but think about how the Fort Worth institution is building the next generation of contemporary artists and how she\u2019s vested with leading the museum into the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Modern\u2019s director Halona Norton-Westbrook, left, speaks to a member of the museum\u2019s educational staff about the art created by teens during art camp sessions Aug. 8, 2025. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Norton-Westbrook joined the Modern as its new director<\/a> July 1, succeeding the museum\u2019s decadeslong leader Marla Price<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Price, who served in the role since 1992, ran the Modern during periods of transformational growth, marked not only by the institution moving to a new building<\/a> in the Cultural District but also by the growth in size and quality of its permanent collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Norton-Westbrook settled into her first month in the role, she talked about how she wants to implement a strategic plan to grow the Fort Worth museum\u2019s stature both locally and internationally on the heels of a controversial police investigation of an exhibit that rattled local institutions and made waves across the country.<\/p>\n Past leadership prepares her for Fort Worth<\/strong><\/p>\n Art has been at the center of Norton-Westbrook\u2019s life since childhood, when she was immersed in the creativity of the San Francisco Bay Area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then as a college student, she was mesmerized by an exhibition that featured 15 room-sized video installations to contextualize media artist Bill Viola\u2019s creative process<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Norton-Westbrook said she found herself thinking about how museum staff brought the artist\u2019s vision to life for audiences. That led her to pursue museum management.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ability to be immersed in somebody\u2019s creative process and then to be the connection between that person, that artist and the rest of the world, that\u2019s what was exciting to me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Norton-Westbrook spent five years as president and CEO of the Honolulu Museum of Art starting in January 2020. She developed the museum\u2019s first comprehensive strategic plan<\/a>, guided a $4 million expansion<\/a> and secured major acquisitions<\/a>. The museum saw its annual attendance jump 70% higher than that of pre-pandemic years<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mike Watanabe, board chair of the Honolulu museum, said in February that Norton-Westbrook led through a period of \u201cpositive transformational change\u201d<\/a> that set a foundation for future growth.<\/p>\n When the opportunity to lead the Modern came into frame, Norton-Westbrook didn\u2019t hesitate to throw her hat in the ring.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(Fort Worth) is a place with deep roots but also a lot of ambitious vision and interest in future growth,\u201d she said. \u201cThat combination of things makes it a really dynamic community to enter.\u201d<\/p>\n The Modern\u2019s director role came with prestige. However, she knew she would have to lead her team past the biggest controversy in the museum\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moving past national controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n In January, Fort Worth police seized photographs from the Modern as part of an investigation alleging the museum was displaying child pornography<\/a> in its \u201cDiaries of Home\u201d exhibition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several of photographer Sally Mann\u2019s images \u2014 originally featured in her 1992 book \u201cImmediate Family\u201d \u2014 showed her then-young children in the nude.\u00a0<\/p>\n The case was dropped in late March after a grand jury declined to take action<\/a> against the Modern. The investigation drew national attention. Some civil liberties groups said the police work impeded on First Amendment protections<\/a> while Christian groups said the photographs normalized child exploitation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Determined to move past the controversy, Norton-Westbrook said she\u2019s spent her first month listening to museum staff, community members and art patrons to better understand how to shape exhibitions in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you walk into a new situation, the most important thing to do is to listen,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really just trying to be open to dialogue, to feedback, to understanding at this moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond those conversations, Norton-Westbrook is dedicating time to crafting her artistic vision for the Modern.\u00a0<\/p>\n A local lifeblood to art<\/strong><\/p>\n The future of the Modern will include more community engagement, collaboration with curators and art acquisitions, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Modern draws international visitors, she said, but more Fort Worthians need to see themselves reflected in its art.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to see our audience grow and to see the Modern become something top of mind for everyone who lives here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the museum\u2019s job to bring forward both the expected but the unexpected as well.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, in Hawaii, her team balanced the museum\u2019s connections with Hawaiian culture while attracting global art that hadn\u2019t been showcased in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Norton-Westbrook declined to share specific details about her plans for the future since she hasn\u2019t presented it to the Modern\u2019s trustees, but said she wants to expand the museum\u2019s permanent collection of contemporary art<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Modern has been celebrated for exhibits from prominent pop culture figures such as KAWS<\/a> and Takashi Murakami<\/a>, she said. Permanent pieces \u2014 such as Wangechi Mutu\u2019s \u201cThe Seated III\u201d sculpture \u2014 are not as frequently spotlighted since curators work in a cycle of planning seasonal exhibitions before working on the next.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fort Worth museum has opened five exhibitions<\/a> since August 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not giving enough space to the permanent collection, so adjusting the balance of how often we do that,\u201d Norton-Westbrook said. \u201cWe also want to support our curators by giving them a longer runway of planning and conceiving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrea Karnes<\/a>, chief curator at the Modern, is on board with Norton-Westbrook\u2019s vision, highlighting how the museum director has already fostered a collaborative environment with the four-person curatorial team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s very present as a leader, but at the same time feeling nurturing to the staff,\u201d Karnes said. \u201cAll of her ideas are great. She\u2019s also listening to us and our ideas, so it feels like a real collegial exchange.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Norton-Westbrook knows shaping the museum\u2019s future will take time. She plans to lead the institution for the long haul, although she\u2019s not sure she can match Price\u2019s 30-year tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, she\u2019ll keep strolling through the Modern\u2019s grounds, reminding herself the Fort Worth museum was where she was meant to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DSC01559.jpg\")
The \u201cDiaries of Home\u201d exhibition was on view at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth until Feb. 2. Four images were removed after some public officials raised concerns of child pornography. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AndreaKarnes.png\")
Andrea Karnes, chief curator at the Modern, talks to guests about artworks featured in the \u201cDavid-Jeremiah: The Fire This Time\u201d exhibition on Aug. 14, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
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