Terence Riley (November 6, 1954 – May 17, 2021) was an American architect and museum curator. He was the chief curator of architecture and design at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

from 1992 to 2006.

Early life and education

Riley was born in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

, son of Philip Riley a printer, and Mary Jo (Lundberg) Riley, a homemaker. He grew up in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in and the county seat of McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 51 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, and graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

with a B.Arch in 1978, followed by an M.Arch at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1982.

Career

In 1984, Riley formed the firm Keenen/Riley in 1984 with John Keenen. As a member of

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

, Riley worked on ''Let The Record Show…'', a window installation that opened at the New Museum in 1987. In 1990, he opened the Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery at Columbia, and was recruited by

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...

a year later to work at the Museum of Modern Art, becoming Philip Johnson Chief Curator for architecture and design in 1992. He helped to found the MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program. In 2006 he became director of the

Miami Art Museum Miami is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a population of 6.14 million, is the second-largest metropolitan ...

, stepping down in 2009 to return to architectural practice in Miami.

References

1954 births 2021 deaths American architecture critics People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Directors of museums in the United States University of Notre Dame alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Exhibition designers American architectural historians {{US-architect-20C-stub