Theresa Papanikolas is the new Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art at the Seattle Art Museum. She is coming from the position of deputy director and curator of American and European art at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Papanikolas recently organized “Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai’i,” currently on view at the New York Botanical Garden. At HoMA, she presented a show of the Hawaiian pictures of photographer Ansel Adams and O’Keeffe.

“I like using pictures to help tell stories, stories that can help connect older work to current concerns like the environment or identity,” she said. “I also like work that highlights a sense of place.”

Papanikolas is just the second curator of American art at SAM, following Patricia Junker, who retired in the spring.