From a young triennial as civic arts exhibition, to an artist-run organization exploring relationships between art, community & architecture, to a nearly 50-year old roving public art organization, and more, there are many models for sustained public art and community engaged programs. Hear from colleagues at the helm of various art organizations–who have shaped, built, and inherited platforms–on how their work is impacted by five key themes: polyphony, deep listening, itinerancy and site-specificity, temporality (pasts, presents, futures), and infrastructure & history.

Panelists:
-Dominique Fontaine, Curator, Toronto Biennial
-Justine Ludwig, Executive Director, Creative Time
-Faheem Majeed, Co-Founder of The Floating Museum and Co-Curator of the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2023
-James McAnally, Executive and Artistic Director, Counterpublic Triennial
-Debra Yepa-Pappan, Co-Founder, Director of Exhibitions & Programs, Center for Native Futures

Moderated by Visiting Curator Allison Glenn

Panelist Bios:
Dominique Fontaine is co-curating the 2024 edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art (TBA). She graduated in visual arts and arts administration from the University of Ottawa (Canada), and completed the De Appel Curatorial Programme (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Her interests lie in the social role of art in a plural world. Motivated by the emerging challenges confronting museums, she pursued museology studies at the Université de Montréal.

Dominique’s recent projects include Imaginaires souverains, Le présent, modes d’emploi, Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto; Foire en art actuel de Québec 2020; Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art; Dineo Seshee Bopape: and- in. the light of this._______, Darling Foundry; Repérages ou À la découverte de notre monde ou Sans titre, articule; Between the earth and the sky, the possibility of everything, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto 2014. Dominique is co-initiator of the Black Curators Forum; is a member of AICA-Canada, the American Association of Museum Curators (AAMC,) and of the International Contemporary Art Curators Association (IKT); and is also part of Intervals Collective. Dominique Fontaine is laureate of Black History Month of the City of Montreal 2021.

Justine Ludwig is a curator and writer who currently serves as the Executive Director of Creative Time, New York's vanguard public art organization. Previously held curatorial positions include the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and Dallas Contemporary. She has curated projects with many artists including Shilpa Gupta, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Pedro Reyes, Laercio Redondo, Paola Pivi, and Pia Camil. Her research interests include the intersections of aesthetics and architecture, violence, economics, and globalization. Ludwig has an MA in Global Arts from Goldsmiths University of London and a BA in Art with a concentration in Art History from Colby College.

Faheem Majeed is an artist, educator, curator, and community facilitator. He blends his unique experience as a non-profit administrator, curator, and artist to create works that focus on institutional critique and exhibitions that leverage collaboration to engage his immediate, and the broader community, in meaningful dialogue. He is the co-founder/co-director of the arts collective Floating Museum. Majeed received his BFA from Howard University and his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

James McAnally is the Executive and Artistic Director of Counterpublic, a triennial civic exhibition in St. Louis, MO. Previously, McAnally was the co-founder and director of The Luminary, an expansive platform for art, thought, and action based in St. Louis. He additionally serves as the executive editor and co-founder of MARCH: a journal of art & strategy and was a founding member of Common Field, a national network of independent art spaces and organizers. McAnally has presented exhibitions, texts, and lectures at venues such as the Walker Art Center, Kadist Art Foundation, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, The Artist’s Institute, and Gwangju Biennale. McAnally’s writing has appeared in publications such as Art in America, Artnet, Art Journal, Bomb Magazine, Hyperallergic, Terremoto, and many others, and his publications are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and Harvard Art Museum. McAnally is a recipient of the Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Short-Form Writing.

Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo and Korean) is a visual artist, the Director of Exhibitions and Programs, and co-founder at Center for Native Futures, a dynamic contemporary arts space based in the city of Chicago that supports Native artists through exhibitions, residencies, artist services, and more. She is committed to changing inaccurate representations of Native people, and advocates for the inclusion of Native first voice and perspectives.