171 - Corning's Creative Hub & MOSAIC - the Annual Gallery of Affordable Art
Nov 05, 2026 11:30 PM
Kirsty Harper Buchanan, Executive Director of 171
171 - Corning's Creative Hub & MOSAIC - the Annual Gallery of Affordable Art

BIOGRAPHY

Since January 2023, Buchanan has served as the Executive Director of 171 Cedar Arts Center in

Corning, NY. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in art history from Southern Methodist

University in Dallas, where her post-graduate work was grounded in classical studies and

archaeological field work. Her professional scholarship has focused on American paintings, drawings,

and sculpture with a concentration on Hudson River School, Modernism, and American Regionalism.

Buchanan served as the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions for The Rockwell Museum from 2015-

2023 where she co-authored The Rockwell’s application to the Smithsonian Affiliates program. During

her tenure, she crafted the institutional Collection Development Plan and increased the permanent

collection through more than 350 acquisitions. Prior to that, Buchanan served as the Managing

Director of Western Art for Heritage Auctions. As a senior American art specialist, she oversaw two live

auctions annually, fine art consignments, provenance research, authentication, conservation, and

catalog production.

 

Buchanan has a strong knowledge of the art market and has served as a grant review panelist for the

National Endowment for the Arts and on the inaugural Ambassador Board for the Amon Carter

Museum of American Art. She currently serves on the City of Corning Public Arts Committee,

Leadership Society for WSKG Public Media, Southern Finger Lakes Directors’ Roundtable, and is a

lifetime member of the Association of Historians of American Art.