Background
Venable was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
Venable was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
He received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Art History and History from Rice University in 1982 and a master"s degree from the University of Delaware"s Winterthur Program in Early American Culture in 1986 and a Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University in American Studies in 1993.
From 1986 to 2002, he was at the Dallas Museum of Art, rising from rank of Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts to deputy director and built the museum’s holdings of American decorative art Venable also served five years (2002–2007) as deputy director of the Cleveland Museum of Art and then five years as the Director of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.