The University of Maryland, College Park’s College of Arts and Humanities has appointed a new interim director for the Driskell Center.

Curlee R. Holton assumed the interim executive director position July 1, after coming from the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. where he was a professor of art and founding director.

UM’s Driskell Center is the college of Arts and Humanities’ center for the study of visual arts and culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora.

Holton is a trained printmaker and focuses on voices and issues of the African American experience and specializes in teaching African American art history, according to a university release.

“I am thrilled Curlee agreed to serve as the interim executive director of the Driskell Center,” Bonnie Thornton Dill, dean of the college, said in a release. “The Driskell Center is one of the jewels of this university and Curlee will continue to build momentum and extend the programs of the center during this period of transition.”

Holton is succeeding Robert E. Steele, who retired this year. He will be supported by acting director Dorit Yaron who oversees additional center duties and completes the day-to-day tasks in Holton’s absence.

djgross@gazette.net