The Met Touted Her as Its First Native American Curator. Amid Criticism, She Quietly Left.

Hired Amid Great Fanfare, Patricia Marroquin Norby, Met’s Inaugural Curator of Native American Art, Quietly Left

Patricia Marroquin Norby, who in 2020 was named the first-ever full-time associate curator of Native American art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, quietly departed the role in December as questions swirled regarding her own Native heritage, Artnews reports. Norby had been touted as the first Native American curator hired by the museum. The Met […]

The Met Touted Her as Its First Native American Curator. Amid Criticism, She Quietly Left.

Patricia Marroquin Norby, the first curator of Native American art ever hired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, quietly left her post in December 2025. Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York posted a job listing for a curator of Native American art to replace Norby, who had been the museum’s associate curator of Native American art since 2020.  Norby had been hired to great fanfare, as both the first person to hold the…