Next Talk Shop & CONVERGE

CONVERGE Chicago: Contemporary Curators Forum is a platform for curators and museum professionals to engage in dialogue surrounding the most pressing topics in curatorial practice today.  Hear, see and participate in forming the ideas of a new wave of cutting-edge curators, critics and artists. 

The 2010 Advisory Committee:
James Rondeau, Art Institute of Chicago
Franklin Sirmans, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Anthony Huberman, Independent Curator
Hamza Walker, Renaissnance Society
Julie Rodrigues-Widholm, MCA Chicago

2010 Programming Partners include iCI: Independent Curators International, The Renaissance Society, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Gallery News. 


2009 Next Talk Shop & Converge Programs
 
 

CONVERGE 2010 — Production of the New

Friday, April 30

11A - 12:30P
Converge Curators Forum
Contemporary Perspectives on Outsider Art
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor 
This panel brings together leaders in the field of outsider and self-taught art practices to present a variety of contemporary perspectives on collecting, presenting and researching outsider art.  Bernard Herman will speak on Blublu and its relationship to contemporary anarchist street art; Cartin Collection Curator Steven Holmes will address collecting outsider art in the context of a private contemporary collection; Colin Rhodes will discuss current scholarship in the field; Leslie Umberger, Senior Curator Kohler Arts Center, will speak on the mounting of exhibitions in a contemporary center; and Brooke Davis Anderson, Director and Curator, Contemporary Center at the Folk Art Museum, will moderate.

11A -12:30P
Converge Curators Forum
Big Culture: Contemporary Art in Texas
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
This panel brings together a group of leading curators and museum directors to discuss Texas’ vibrant cultural landscape, anchored by innovative non profits, world class museums and unique cultural destinations.  Presenters include Risa Puleo, Assistant Curator of Contemporary and American Art, The Blanton Museum, Sue Graze, Executive Director, Arthouse Texas, Matthew Drutt, Executive Director, Artpace and Charlie Wylie, Lupe Murchison Curator of Contemporary Art Dallas Museum of Art.  Moderated by Eleanor Williams.  Presented as part of Perspective Texas.  

1-2P
New Insight Public Program
After the MFA
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th floor 
Rising artists will discuss MFA and how it has shaped their practice, career and outlook on the art world in a town hall style discussion with students exhibiting in the New Insight exhibition.

1-2:30P
Converge Curators Forum
The Old with the New: Presenting New Works by Living Artists in the Museum
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
This panel discussion will bring together curators at collecting institutions, particularly ones that do not specialize in contemporary art, to talk about living artist projects and how they are integrated into the mission of the museum.  Moderated by Lisa Dent, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Columbus Museum of Art, panelists include: Rita Gonzalez, Assistant Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Jill Dawsey, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Utah Museum of Fine Arts;  Kelly C. Baum, Locks Curatorial Fellow, Princeton University Art Museum; and Lisa Dorin, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago.

2:30-3:45P
Converge Curators Forum
The Alternative State: Non Profits in a New World
Next Talk Shop, 7th Floor
Panelists will discuss the roles of their organizations as creative forces, touching on exhibitions, programs and initiatives that have taken shape because of or in spite of the economic climate.  Panelists include Stacy Switzer, Artistic Director, Grand Arts; Gregory Burke, Director, The Power Plant; and Kate Lorenz, Executive Director, The Hyde Park Art Center; and Amani Olu, director and founder of the Humble Arts Foundation.  Paul Laster, Editor of Artkrush, will moderate.

3-4:30P
Art Chicago | NEXT Speaks
Collecting NOW
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
Prominent art collectors give insight into the evolution of their collecting practice.  Have their interests been shaped a dynamic cultural and political landscape, or the tumultuous economic climate? Panelists include Elayne and Marvin Mordes, founders of Whitespace, James Cahn of Chicago, Sharon Hoffman of Kansas City, and New-York based collector Selig D. Sacks.

4:45-7P
Art Chicago | NEXT Speaks
The Renewed Importance of Art in Public Spaces
Presented by ArtTable
Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
Join a panel discussion on the growing importance of art and architecture in public spaces in the new economy.  As changes in the economy redirect the way people spend recreational time, public art and architecture have a profound ability to engage.   

5P
Converge Chicago: Contemporary Curators Forum
Women in Photography:  Are Gender-Specific Exhibitions Necessary?
Presented by Humble Arts Foundation 
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor

Saturday, May 1

11-12:30P
Converge Curators Forum
Curating and the Expansion
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
Curators discuss the challenges and rewards of mounting exhibitions in dynamic, architecturally-driven museum expansions.  Using their own institution as a frame of reference, this conversation will address curatorial issues from a practical point of view, while also touching on the symbolic impact of contemporary architecture on the display of art and the museum experience.  Panelists include Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director, Denver Art Museum, Jan Schall, Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nelson Atkins Museum; Brady Roberts, Chief Curator, Milwaukee Art Museum; and Jacob Proctor, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art and Linda O. Stanford, Project Manager, Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University. 

11-12P
Converge Curators Forum
Studio Visit Series: Michelle Grabner and Anthony Huberman
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
The first of two back-to-back conversations gives an exclusive opportunity to hear a curator interview an artist in an intimate, one-on-one format.  Anthony Huberman, Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, will talk to artist Michelle Grabner about The Great Poor Farm Experiment, a site-specific exhibition project located in rural Wisconsin.

12:15-1:15P
Converge Curators Forum
Studio Visit Series: Theaster Gates and Franklin Sirmans
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, who will be included in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, will discuss his practice with Franklin Sirmans, Curator of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

1-2:30P
Art Chicago | NEXT Speaks
Perspective Texas Collectors Panel
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
Top art collectors from Texas will discuss their collections, while offering an inside look at contemporary art in the Lone Star State.  Panelists include Melissa Meeks of the Dallas Cowboys Art Program, as well as collectors Lester Marks and Reggie Smith.  Paul Laster, Editor of Artkrush, will moderate the discussion. 

3-4:30P
Converge Curators Forum
Beyond the White Cube: A Short History of Exhibition Making
Presented with The Renaissance Society
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor 
While the exhibition space has been expanded, re-imagined and resisted since the beginning of exhibition making, artists have not ceased to shatter convention and provide new models.  Curators will discuss ways beyond the white cube, drawing on their own history of exhibition making in some of the country’s most notable spaces.  Moderated by Bill Arning, Director, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, panelists include: Susanne Ghez, Director, and Hamza Walker, Associate Curator, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago; Paul Ha, Director, Contemporary Art Museum, Saint Louis; and Irene Hofmann, Director, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore.

5:30-7P
Converge Curators Forum
Beyond the White Cute II: International Networks
Presented with iCI (Independent Curators International)
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
How can the expansion of curatorial networks and collaborative practice between institutions internationally start to build the potential for new forms of exhibitions and exchange? How are practitioners re-thinking and re-defining their roles? Moderated by Kate Fowle, Executive Director of ICI (Independent Curators International). 

Sunday, May 2

11A-12:30P
Art Chicago | NEXT Speaks
Prints: What to Know Now
Presented with the International Fine Print Dealers Association
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
Bruce W. Pepich, Executive Director and Curator of Collections at the Racine Art Museum poses questions to panelists about the fundamentals of starting or expanding a collection in 20th century modern and contemporary prints. Featuring Mark Pascale, Curator, Department of Prints & Drawings, the Art Institute of Chicago, collector Jane Ratcliffe, and art dealer Eva Maria Worthington. Sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Association.

12-1:15P
Converge Curators Forum
Studio Visit Series: Stephanie Smith and Laura Letinsky
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
Stephanie Smith, Director of Collections and Exhibitions and Curator of Contemporary Art, Smart Museum of Art, will talk to Chicago-based photographer Laura Letinsky about her practice.

1-2:30P
Art Chicago | NEXT Speaks
Social Media Strategies in Chicago's Art Community
Presented by Chicago Gallery News News
Art Chicago Art Spot, 12th Floor
How are arts organizations and publications using blogs, Twitter and Facebook to connect with their communities? How is social media changing art criticism, marketing and writing?  Co-moderated by art critic Alicia Eler and Chicago Gallery News' Ginny Berg, this panel features Duncan MacKenzie, Bad at Sports; Kathryn Born, Chicago Art Magazine; Karla Loring, Museum of Contemporary Art; Crystal Pernell, Hyde Park Art Center; Judd Morrissey, School of the Art Institute; and Carrie Heinonen, Art Institute of Chicago. 
 

Monday, May 3

1-2:30P
Converge Curators Forum Special Student Program
After School Special: Student-Run Art Spaces On-and Off-Campus
Presented with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
NEXT Talk Shop, 7th Floor
Moderated by Hyde Park Arts Center Exhibitions Manager Allison Peters Quinn, this panel discussion explores the innovative curatorial and entrepreneurial initiatives that have arisen from student-run art spaces, while dissecting both the positive and negative aspects of the term "student-run" within Chicago's Do-It-Yourself spirit of business in the arts. Participants include School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumnus Iain Muirhead, co-founder of SAIC's Student Union Galleries (SUGs) and the exhibition logistics firm NFA Space; current SUGs administrative director Katherine Pill, co-director of Concertina Gallery; and other students with burgeoning galleries. Peters Quinn co-curated Artists Run Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center's comprehensive 2009 exhibition of Chicago's history of apartment galleries.