Jane Carpenter-Rock, Acting Director

Jane Carpenter-Rock is acting director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. She also oversees the program at the museum’s branch location for contemporary craft, the Renwick Gallery.  

Carpenter-Rock joined the museum in March 2022 as the deputy director for museum content and outreach responsible for overseeing the museum’s departments for Education, Conservation, External Affairs and Digital Strategies and the Research and Scholars Center. Previously, she held several positions at the U.S. Department of State, including director of the orientation division at the Foreign Service Institute (2021–2022), acting director and deputy director of the National Museum of American Diplomacy (2018–2021), deputy director of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs (2016–2018) and public affairs officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Cape Town, South Africa (2013–2016).  

While at the State Department, Carpenter-Rock spoke regularly to the public and published about the history, skills and tools of American diplomacy. She serves on the Reves International Advisory Board at the College of William & Mary and is a member of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Historic Preservation Commission.

Carpenter-Rock earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary, a master’s degree from Howard University and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. As a student, Carpenter-Rock participated in two of the museum’s prestigious programs: she was a curatorial intern through the museum’s advanced level program (1995–1996) and a predoctoral fellow (2000–2002). Her dissertation was titled “Conjure Woman: Betye Saar and Rituals of Transformation, 1960–1990.” She is the author of Betye Saar, part of the David C. Driskell Series of African American Art (2003).