Khan, Arif

Arif Khan migrated home to head the largest art collection in the state as director of UNM Art Museum. A first-generation American, Khan moved to Albuquerque with his family at age 2. His father, retired radiation oncologist Dr. Kutub Khan,is from India; his mother is English.

His résumé is a 14-year road map in museum administration, fundraising, exhibition development and museum education mixed with collections management and strategic planning. He always wanted to come home. He hopscotched from the Santa Fe Indian Market to the Governor’s Gallery, before leaping south to the Tamarind Institute and gliding east to the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in Charleston, W.Va.

Khan majored in American history at Wisconsin’s Lawrence University, then returned to UNM for a master’s degree in American studies. After a stint as a photo archivist at an Atlanta gallery, he crossed the ocean for his MBA at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

Episodes:
Jeff Gilkey, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, Arif Khan and Andrew Connors
UNM Art Museum director Arif Khan & Albuquerque Museum director Andrew Connors, Story District, Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, Gear Daddies