Katie Hirsch is appointed Director of Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at College of Charleston
CHARLESTON—Katie Hirsch, the current Interim Director, Curator and Director of Strategic Partnerships took the helm of Halsey Institute Director on April 1, 2021. Hirsch’s appointment follows the December 2020 retirement of the Halsey Institute’s long-time director Mark Sloan.
Katie Hirsch joined the Halsey Institute team in August 2016 and was most recently a Curator and the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. She has curated exhibitions on Roberto Diago and Coulter Fussell, among others. She served as Associate Curator for the Halsey Institute’s landmark 2018 exhibition Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, for which she contributed to the catalogue. She is responsible for the Halsey Institute’s traveling exhibitions program, organizing nationwide tours of Southbound and exhibitions featuring the work of Fahamu Pecou, Jiha Moon, and Hitnes, among others. She is also an adjunct instructor of arts management at the College of Charleston.
Artadia announces the 21c Artadia Award in partnership with 21c Hotels across the country
LOUISVILE—Launching in Louisville, KY, the 21c Artadia Award marks the beginning of a long-term partnership, which will annually provide $10,000 in unrestricted funds to one artist living and working in the unique creative communities where 21c Museum Hotels are located. The 21c Artadia Award is designed to provide essential funding and recognition to artists at pivotal points in their careers, strengthen arts communities, and spur new levels of career achievement.
21c Museum Hotels are a multi-venue contemporary art museum and award-winning hospitality company. Nine rotating hotels will host the 21c Artadia Award. In addition to the grant itself, the Award includes lifelong access to the Artadia Network, a support program nurturing strategic relationships and connecting Awardees with a community of fellow artists and diverse cohort of professionals. This partnership allows Artadia to reach new communities and artists with its Award program, with future Award cycles slated for Kansas City, MO (2022); Durham, NC (2023); and Nashville, TN (2024).
Institute 193 names Ryan Filchak as new Director
LEXINGTON—Non-profit art gallery, Institute 193, welcomes Ryan Filchak as their new Director. Born and raised in central Kentucky, Filchak has cultivated strong connections in the arts community in his home state as well as Chicago where he has lived and worked for the past five years. Working most recently as a freelance writer Filchak has published interviews, essays and exhibition reviews for Vice, Burnaway, The SEEN, Newcity Art, The Smudge, Boom Saloon, Amadeus, and others. In Chicago, Filchak has also worked directly with various arts organizations, first as an intern at PATRON and later as the Publishing Director for the artist-run space LVL3.
Institute 193 provides artists from Kentucky and the Southeastern United States—selected not by commercial viability, but by the quality and relevance of their work—with exhibition and publication opportunities. It also endeavors to help these artists gain broader media exposure and foster connections in art markets across the globe.
Pérez Art Museum Miami Announces María Magdalena Campos-Pons as Recipient of 2021 Pérez Prize
MIAMI—Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons was announced as the recipient of the 2021 Pérez Prize, an unrestricted award of $50,000 that honors artistic achievement, funded by a gift from local patrons of the arts and longtime PAMM supporters Jorge and Darlene Pérez. Campos-Pons’s work centers themes at the intersection of race, religion, gender, and shared histories. Her practice spans photography, painting, sculpture, film, video, and performance. Campos-Pons most recently spearheaded When We Gather, a multi-part project by seven women artists of color responding to the historic election of Kamala Harris as the first woman of color to be Vice President. Inspired by the Yoruba religious rituals of her childhood, the work captures the artist’s interest in the traditions and rituals of her ancestors.
ATLANTA—Hammonds House Museum’s Board of Directors announced that the museum’s Executive Director, Leatrice Ellzy Wright, is leaving to become Senior Director of Programming at the historic Apollo Theater in New York. The Board is currently culminating a targeted search for a new Executive Director for the prestigious African American museum, with news to be announced soon. Ellzy Wright will remain with the museum through May 31, to ensure a seamless leadership transition and provide support where necessary.
Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron.
