Paul Durica
DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITIONS
Experience: Chicago History Museum, Director of Exhibitions, 2022-present; Newberry Library, Director of Exhibitions, 2020-2022; Illinois Humanities, Director of Programs and Exhibitions, 2015-2020
Education: PhD, English Language and Literature, University of Chicago, 2013; MFA, Creative Writing, University of Michigan, 2002; BA, English and Cinema, Denison University
As the Director of Exhibitions, Paul Durica oversees the planning, development, and production of temporary exhibitions at the Museum while ensuring that permanent exhibitions continue to offer an engaging high-quality experience for all visitors.
His involvement with the Museum goes back over a decade. He was co-curator on the Chicago Authored exhibition and has created many different tours and public programs for the Museum.
While still a graduate student, Durica launched a series of free, interactive walking tours, lectures, and reenactments that engaged Chicago’s past. This series led to collaborations with cultural institutions and community organizations across the city and has been written about in the Atlantic: Cities, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and Vice among other places.
With Bill Savage, Durica edited Chicago By Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America (Northwestern: UP, 2013), a reissue of an 1893 guide to the city. Durica’s writing on Chicago and history have appeared in the Journal of American Studies, Poetry, and Mash Tun. He has talked about Chicago history frequently on radio and television.