Maika Pollack Named New Director of Baruch College’s Sidney Mishkin Gallery

July 29, 2026

Earlier this year, Dr. Maika Pollack was named the new director of Baruch College’s Mishkin Gallery. She brings with her decades of experience in curation, art history, teaching, and gallery leadership.

Prior to arriving at Baruch, Pollack held faculty and gallery leadership positions at Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. A known voice in the arts, she also serves on the board of the International Association of Art Critics.

Dedicated to Sidney Mishkin (’34), the Mishkin Gallery— affiliated with the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences— has been a local cultural institution since 1983. Through museum-quality exhibitions alongside fellowships, scholarships, publications, and public programming, the Gallery connects both the public and the Baruch community with the arts.

A Vision for Learning, Community, and Creativity

Drawing on her teaching background, Pollack is leading hands-on student learning, such as through the Nagelberg Fellowship program. With her guidance, fellows gain arts administration experience at the Mishkin Gallery by contributing to exhibitions and initiatives that are aligned with its mission.

Pollack is also shaping dynamic exhibitions this fall. Under her leadership, the Gallery will update and reprise its 1997 exhibition feature talks from alumni about art collecting and student-alumni networking, Alumni Collect: 20th Century Masterpieces from the Collections of Baruch College Alumni.

Pollack says she is inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of Baruch.

“I look forward to creating a dynamic exhibition space welcoming students, the Baruch community, alumni, and beyond,” she says, “while continuing the Mishkin Gallery’s reputation as a ‘jewel’ of Gramercy Park.”