Heather Pesanti, Carnegie Museum of Art assistant curator of contemporary art, will leave the museum in October to become curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., a museum known for its fine collection of modern and contemporary art.

Pesanti joined the Carnegie in 2005 to assist with "Life on Mars," the 2008 Carnegie International, curated by Douglas Fogle, Carnegie curator of contemporary art. She curated "Forum 58: Jonathan Borofsky -- Human Structures" and "Forum 60: Rivane Neuenschwander" at the Carnegie.

She has also been very active in the community, visiting countless artist studios and curating exhibitions such as the Mattress Factory's recent Gestures exhibition, "illustrations of catastrophe and remote times," and "Out of This Furnace," which opens Saturday in Braddock.

--Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette art critic