The Harvard Art Museum has appointed Mary Schneider Enriquez ’81, an expert in Latin American art, to serve as an associate curator of modern and contemporary art, the museum announced on Friday.

Schneider Enriquez, who has served as a Latin American art adviser to the museum since 2001, is currently a visiting lecturer at Brandeis University and a Ph.D. student in Harvard’s Department of History of Art and Architecture.

“In an institution with a remarkable collection and legacy of exhibitions, I welcome the chance to explore ways to continue to integrate modern and contemporary art from a broad range of cultures into the collection that will enhance the teaching and research mission of the museum,” she said in a press release Friday.

In the past, Schneider Enriquez has co-curated an exhibition on Latin American art for the Harvard Art Museum and organized an accompanying panel discussion. She has also directed and participated in several lecture series.

Schneider Enriquez wrote in an e-mailed statement to The Crimson that Harvard has in recent years sought to deepen its focus on cultures that have historically been “underrepresented” in the University’s curriculum and exhibitions. Her new role, she said, will allow her to supply that need from within the context of the University’s art museum.

She added that art gallery visitors can learn to make previously undiscovered connections between different cultures and that a “visual dialogue” between different types of art can expand the “perspective and context in which students and museum visitors consider the scope of art history.”

Outside of Harvard, Schneider Enriquez’s curatorial experience has included a retrospective of contemporary Latin American photographer Gerardo Suter that traveled nationally. Her 1995 exhibit, “Mexico: A Landscape Revisited”—launched in conjunction with the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.—toured internationally.

In addition to museum experience, Schneider Enriquez has also worked in other divisions of the art world. She has written as an independent art critic, and her pieces have appeared in ARTNews, ArtNexus, and Art in America magazines.

“With her long and varied background in the art world, especially in Latin America, and as someone who already has an intimate knowledge of the Art Museum and Harvard University, “[Schneider Enriquez] brings a distinct perspective to this position,” said Thomas W. Lentz, the Harvard Art Museum’s director in the press release.

—Staff writer James K. McAuley can be reached at mcauley@fas.harvard.edu.