Karol Wight became executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass in 2011, after 26 years at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Before joining the Corning Museum she was senior curator of antiquities at the Getty Villa.
A specialist in ancient glass, Wight received her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has curated numerous exhibitions on ancient art and glass, including Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Getty Villa), Athletes in Antiquity: Works from the Collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum (Utah Museum of Fine Arts during the 2002 Winter Olympics). In 2007, she co-curated the exhibition, Reflecting Antiquity, with David Whitehouse, which was shown both at the Getty Villa and The Corning Museum of Glass.
Wight directed public programs and changing exhibits at the Getty Villa, and from 1997-2005 helped to oversee a $275 million renovation, expansion, and reinstallation of the Villa. She was also instrumental in creating a revised acquisitions policy to ensure responsible collections development for antiquities at the Getty Museum, facilitating a successful restitution program with Italy and Greece that encompasses cultural exchanges of works of art, exhibition development, conferences, and conservation projects.
Wight now serves as both executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass and as curator of ancient and Islamic glass. She is responsible for overseeing the Museum’s extensive collections, the Rakow Research Library, The Studio, publications, education programs, and conservation and scientific research.
