George Schwartz, Curator-at-Large

George Schwartz's interests are in maritime art, material culture, early collecting and museum history. During his over two decades at PEM, he contributed to many of the institution's successful exhibitions including Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed, and Style, and In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting. He also co-curated The Yachting Photography of Willard B. Jackson.

Schwartz earned his BA in Anthropology from Brown University, his MA in Historical Archaeology from UMASS Boston, and his PhD in American Studies from Boston University. His book Collecting the Globe: The Salem East India Marine Society Museum (University of Massachusetts Press, 2020), explores PEM’s origins and illustrates how global objects were used to shape an emerging national identity in the early United States. Schwartz has lectured internationally and has written articles and essays for museum catalogs, journals, and magazines. He teaches material culture at Tufts University in the Museum Studies program.