C for Courtside
In the spring of 2017 I co-authored a grant with my colleague Joshua Bienko and submitted to the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Knoxville in competition for a Bailey Opportunity Grant. The ask was for support to establish an artist run curatorial project space in Knoxville with a focus on exhibitions and activities that brought artists to Knoxville that would otherwise not show here.
The proposal was successful, being awarded $9250 to initiate the project space. The following year I applied for a second round of funding and was again successful, receiving $13,000 for continued support. While this is a collaborative project—use of the space for exhibitions rotates through a group of artist members—I have by default ended up as the lead with the lease for the space being in my name. I manage the budget, pay the rent and the utilities, collect dues, collect rent from our tenet (we sublet studio space) and organize member meetings in addition to curating exhibitions.
A combination of creative research and service to the community, the undertaking is both selfish and altruistic. So often the conversation in the arts is centered upon hunting for or pursuing opportunity. This endeavor is situated around the practice of creating opportunity, both for self and for others. As a curator of an exhibition, I am empowered to make contact with individuals I desire to be in dialog with. I am in a position to organize the exhibitions that I wish to see and bring them to my hometown. I am able to look at exhibition space differently in relation to the work of others that I admire while considering new conversations that can exist via targeted combinations of artists and works. Writing about those combinations allows for a different critical and creative lens in which the subject matter I am interested in can be explored through the artistic voices and gesture of others. This experience continues to broaden my own research and creative practice in rewarding ways.
Below are images of the buildout, inaugural exhibition and a sampling of exhibitions which I was directly responsible for as curator.
Along Spectral Lines
Along Spectral Lines was curated to coincide with the 2017 Mid-South Sculpture Alliance conference that we hosted through the sculpture program at the University of Tennessee. The exhibition included works by four artists exploring themes of cultural identity and displacement. Exhibiting artists included Tannaz Farsi, Chido Johnson, Zeinab Saab and Manal Shoukair.
Julie Wills — Battlefields
Battlefields was a one person exhibition of Maryland based artist Julie Wills
52 Hertz Whale
This exhibition was conceived and curated by Mike Calway-Fagen at Stoveworks in Chattanooga, TN. I worked with Calway-Fagen to curate a second iteration of the exhibition at C for Courtside which incorporated about half the original works. Activities included opening and closing receptions, and two gallery talks.
Surround
Ann Trondsen and Melissa Yes
Surround was an immersive multi-channel video and sound installation inspired by 1990’s rave culture. Gallery activities related to the exhibition included opening and closing receptions, a dance workshop and a gallery talk by exhibiting artists Ann Trondsen and Melissa Yes, a collaborative pair based in Birmingham, AL.
