Emily Wei Rales

Emily Wei Rales is a Canadian-born art curator. Rales is the director and chief curator of Glenstone, a museum she maintains along with her husband, Mitchell Rales.

Early life

Rales was born as Emily Wei in Vancouver, Canada. Rales's parents are Chinese immigrants.

Education

Rales became interested in art while studying at Wellesley College, eventually graduating as an art history and Chinese studies major.

Career

Rales's art career began as an intern at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Rales then worked at Barbara Gladstone's gallery and the J.J. Lally & Co gallery in New York, where she specialized in Chinese antiquities. Rales also ran a small non-profit called "Hudson Clearing", which produced small exhibitions in temporary spaces.

Personal life

Rales was introduced to Mitchell Rales in 2005, and began to work for him soon after they began dating. They married in 2008, and reside at their home on the campus of Glenstone in Potomac, Maryland.

Rales's approach to curation is deliberate, methodical, and well-researched. She told The Wall Street Journal in 2017 that she "believe[s] in connoisseurship...there is a way to differentiate between good, better, and best."

As of 2020, Rales is a director of the New York non-profit Foundation for Contemporary Arts.