Gary Garrels was the Chief Curator of SFMOMA (1993-1995), the Elise S. Haas Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture (1995-2000) and the Elise S. Haas Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, (2008-present (2010). Garrels was born in 1951 on a small farm in Iowa, and eventually went to Iowa State College before transferring to New College in Sarasota, Florida. After graduating he decided to attend Princeton for graduate studies but quickly realized that he preferred MIT and became an assistant researcher for an architecture professor there. While pursuing his studies, Garrels was learning about curation and art on his own time by visiting New York on his days off. After receiving his MA in 1984, he moved to New York and became involved with Christie's where he learned how to navigate the art world. He arrived at the SFMOMA in 1993 and began building the museum's collection along with opening up the exhibition program and moving to the new museum building. While being the Haas Senior Curator he brought in works such as Warhol, Mondrian and Rothko. Garrels left SFMOMA in 1999 but returned in 2008. In this interview, Garrels discusses his academic career, introduction to the art world, move to New York, work with galleries, Walker Art Center, Dia Foundation, contemporary art, acquisitions, becoming Haas curator, Jack Lane, an SFMOMA gallery tour, decision to end jury selection of the SECA, and the continued growth of the collections.