Céleste Wackenhut 2008

Céleste has participated in programs and held posts at museums throughout the world. From the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Céleste has deepened her knowledge of art history and introduced audiences to fine art.

After receiving her master’s in modern art from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Céleste started at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, working on research, exhibitions, publications and communications. She currently is curator of French & Michigan, a multidisciplinary organization she and her husband founded in San Antonio. At French & Michigan, Céleste is working to expand its publication and exhibition program and initiating art and architecture residencies.

Céleste, Class of 2008, was introduced to Sweet Briar in second grade when her eldest sister, Anne-Claire Wackenhut Kasten, Class of 1998, enrolled at the College. Her sister, Sophie Wackenhut Szymanski, Class of 2002, also graduated from Sweet Briar. Sister sleepovers in the residence halls enticed Céleste to follow in their footsteps. While at Sweet Briar, Céleste was a double major in history of art and Italian studies and earned a certificate in arts management. During her junior year, she studied in Urbino, Italy. Outside the classroom, Céleste worked in the Pannell Gallery, served as an Italian subject tutor and art history research assistant, sat on the Academic Affairs Committee and Advisory Council, was active in the dance program, and was tapped as a Chung Mung. She interned in New York City, working at both the Jon Schueler Estate and George Adams Gallery.

Céleste serves on the Sweet Briar College Friends of Art Board.