Artspace Announces New Curator / Gallery Director

New Haven, CT - Artspace, New Haven’s leading contemporary arts venue serving emerging artists, is pleased to announce the appointment of Liza Statton, as the new Curator / Gallery Director.

Liza Statton brings a wealth of experience to Artspace through her professional experience at SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico where she was the first Eugune V. Thaw Curatorial Fellow; and previous curatorial training at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), North Adams, Massachusetts; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Ms. Statton has been involved with the production and organization of twelve major exhibitions over the past four years. In 2008, she co-curated Steina: 1970-2000, the first major U.S. retrospective on the pioneering new media artist Steina Vasulka, and most recently played an integral role in the coordination and production of Lucky Number Seven, SITE Santa Fe’s Seventh International Biennial. A graduate of the Williams College Master’s in the History of Art program (2006), Ms. Statton is an accomplished lecturer and author, and contributed essays and articles to many art publications and exhibition catalogues, including Stephen Bush: Gelderland, which received a publication award from the American Association of Museums in 2007.

As Curator / Gallery Director, Ms. Statton will direct Artspace’s dynamic and innovative exhibition program that presents forty exhibition projects per year in its 5,000 square-foot venue and off-site locations in the Greater New Haven area. The Curator / Gallery Director conceives and organizes two-three scholarly exhibitions per year – Ms. Statton’s first major curatorial project will open June 2009. The Curator plans small thematic exhibitions, and oversees the selection and management of guest-curated projects. Ms. Statton will work with the Visual Arts Committee and Artspace staff to implement the Artistic Policy of Artspace, and build the solo show program schedule to fully launch in January 2009. This year, the new Artspace Curator / Gallery Director will team with two members of the Visual Arts Committee to select the work of over 100 Connecticut artists for inclusion in Conncentric, an exhibition at Artspace planned in conjunction with the 2008 City-Wide Open Studios (see www.cwos.org for more information).

Ms. Statton replaces Denise Markonish, who left last July for a curator position at MassMOCA, and will assume the position in late August.

About Artspace
Founded in 1987, Artspace is New Haven’s largest independent contemporary arts venue, presenting a rotating series of imaginative exhibitions that feature a mix of local and nationally-recognized artists. Our exhibitions are presented in our Ninth Square gallery, as well as in borrowed spaces, indoors and out. Our annual City-Wide Open Studios is the nation’s third largest open studios festival. Over the last ten years, more than one million square feet of underutilized space has been activated for arts in the community through CWOS, and 2,000 artists have been included in exhibitions at the gallery. Through its year-round program for urban teens, Artspace is also developing New Haven’s next generation of artists and art audiences.

Visual Arts Committee
The Visual Arts Committee is a group of 10 artists, curators, and educators who serve as a review board for submission to the gallery, and occasionally members curate and install exhibitions. The group meets four times per year to discuss proposals, review submission and consider projects. Members of the Visual Arts Committee serve three-year appointments.

Support
Artspace is supported by TD Bank North, New Alliance Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the Andy Warhol Foundation, LEF Foundation, the City of New Haven’s Office of Economic Development, Yale and Southern Connecticut State Universities, and other financial and academic institutions, local businesses, individuals, and family foundations. www.artspacenh.org
www.cwos.org