Sunday Round Tables at the 2010 SPE Conference

Both Round Tables take place 10:00 am - Noon on Sunday, March 7, 2010

Round Table: Keeping Art Alive in Our Communities (in Salon C, Marriott)	Moderator: Marisol Díaz
Photo: Marisol Díaz	This round table will focus on programs that supplement a lack of art/photo education in elementary, junior high, high schools, and communities as a whole. The dialogue will feature examples of, and testimonies about, the necessity of art education from politicians, educators, students, parents, and others. We will also discuss ways we can take art education off life support by finding ways to get communities served by art education involved through awareness and higher attendance; and getting additional funding from government and private sectors. This session is ideal for educators, those wanting to start or improve community art programs, and teaching artists. Students are encouraged to attend. All are welcome to discuss the issues. Marisol Díaz is a Puerto Rican photographer and educator, born and raised in the Bronx, NY. She is also the program director for En Foco, Inc., a nonprofit that supports culturally diverse photographers. Díaz received a BA in photography from City College/CUNY, and an AA in advertising arts from Bronx Community College. An exhibited and awarded photographer, her teaching accomplishments include a variety of high schools, middle schools, and arts organizations throughout the Bronx. As a panelist, she has served with The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx Net, Coca Cola’s Art in Harmony program, and has also been a reviewer for FotoWeek DC. back to top
Reexamining the Position of the Curator in Contemporary Photography (at The Print Center)	Moderator: Kalia Brooks
Photo: Hank Willis Thomas	This curator-only round table will bring to together emerging curators from various backgrounds and professional affiliations to discuss the shifting role of the curator in the field of contemporary photography. It will address the question of the relationship between the curator, artist and audience by focusing on the methods by which curators are working to gain visibility for artistic practice and the curatorial responsibility in contextualizing that practice for the viewer. With the option to view art in many venues—including the increasing popularity of computer generated environments on the internet—how does the curatorial approach to exhibition-making vary according to the forum? In addition—how does the meaning of these spaces alter the role of the curator?   Immediately following the round table, please join John Caperton, curator, The Print Center, for a tour of Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious, currently on view at The Print Center. Caperton will also address the curatorial issues involved in putting together Philagrafika 2010, Philadelphia‘s international festival celebrating print in contemporary art. Space is limited for the curator round table, so attendees must RSVP to sbanks@spenational.org. Kalia Brooks is a New York-based curator and writer. She is currently an adjunct professor in the Photography and Imaging Department at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in aesthetics and art theory with the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (idsva). Brooks received her MA in curatorial practice from the California College of the Arts in 2006, and was a Helena Rubinstein Fellow in Critical Studies at the Whitney Independent Study Program 2007/2008. back to top