Tuesday, Oct 06, 2020

4:30 pm PST

View the archived lecture here.

In this dialogue, gallery directors Jessica Borusky (University of North Florida) and Rachel Schmid (California Lutheran University) discuss curatorial practice in today’s world, from academic galleries to public institutions to artist-run spaces. Dialogue will address such questions as, what does it mean to create polyvocal exhibitions, and why is this type of diversity important? What does curatorial activism look like, particularly through the lens of non-profit organizations and education? What problems related to gender and race are faced in the museum space, and what are the lasting effects of these issues? Two short presentations will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Mary Springer (Jacksonville State University).

Jessica Borusky is a cultural organizer, artist, and educator. They received their MFA in Studio Art from Tufts University and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, with a concentration in Gender Studies through the MIT Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium in 2013. Their curatorial practice highlights static and expansive media through curatorial activism and inclusive, educational programming. Their art practice considers relationships between turn-of-the-century American Exceptionalism, contemporary individualism, and sexual-queer trauma through humorous performance, video, and installation research projects. Jessica served as the curator for the Art in the Loop Foundation Kansas City, independently curated for the Charlotte Street Foundation, and served as the Executive and Artistic Director for Living Arts of Tulsa. Jessica’s new faculty position as Gallery Director and Instructor for the University of North Florida will bridge contemporary issues in art within interdisciplinary, educational frameworks. Jessica will curate for the UNF Gallery of Art, the Lufrano Intercultural Gallery at UNF, and the UNF Gallery at MOCA Jacksonville.

Mary R. Springer is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. She received a B.A. in Studio Art and Religious Studies from Doane University, an M.A. in Art History from the University of Saint Thomas, and a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Iowa. She specializes in North American and Modern Art and Architecture, and has a subspecialty in Medieval Art and Architecture. She has presented and published papers and reviews on such American architectural topics as Victorian domestic spaces, Gothic Revival, International Style, collegiate architecture, campus planning, and southern architecture and spaces. Her current scholarship focuses on American Collegiate Gothic architecture. Her current book project, tentatively titled The Gothic Goes to College: An Architectural History of American Collegiate Gothic, 1806-1940, critically examines nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American Collegiate Gothic architecture and its stylistic heritage.

Image credit: Installation by Crystal Z Campbell; image by Destiny Jade Green.