Thursday, July 26, 2007

“I was looking for a job, and then I found a job…”
--Morrissey


I’ve been waiting to make this announcement all week: Starting in August, I will be taking over as the new Director of Exhibitions for the Arlington Arts Center.

What does this mean?


For starters, it means that I won’t be teaching at Maryland anymore. My Alma Mater has been more than kind to me. They’ve kept me busy with two or three theory and/or studio classes every semester for the past four years…but it seems like the right time to say goodbye.

Besides, the idea of commuting from D.C. to Arlington to College Park seems more than a little kooky.


It's not inconceivable that I might eventually pick up some adjunct work again—provided it’s closer to home, and I can fit it into my schedule.

It also means that I will be drastically cutting back on the amount of writing I do for the Washington City Paper.


I’ve talked it over with both Mark Athitakis and Matt Borlik, and the consensus is that I simply cannot write about artists and curators with whom I’ll be working closely for my day job. It’s an obvious conflict of interest. So, I won't be covering emerging artists and contemporary gallery culture in D.C. anymore. No more picks or artifacts for Jeffry.

The good news is that I will be able to continue writing longer reviews of museum shows featuring artists who are thoroughly established—or thoroughly dead. Stars and corpses are beyond my influence.

Presumably, this means that fellow CP contributor Kriston Capps will be busier than ever. Luckily for you, he’s a terrific writer.


And who knows? Maybe someone else will step in to fill the gaps, adding his or her voice to the mix, too.

As for the blog: Will I change the name to Curators and Administrators? Hmm.

If anything, I hope to expand the amount of informal coverage I give to gallery shows here. My posts on A.B. Miner and Kathryn Cornelius were test cases; once things settle down a bit, I hope to be able to offer more of that sort of thing, as well as original audio and video content. I know, I've been promising podcasts for awhile. Soon, soon...

Obviously, I’ll also talk about what’s going on in my new digs across the bridge--we’ve got a lot of great resources for artists and curators over there, and I’ll be pushing to get the word out. I sat in on the jurying for 2008 solo shows on Monday and Tuesday, and I’m convinced that we selected some really dynamic work for the coming year. Can't wait to start studio visits.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to my new role. It already seems like a good fit.

7 Comments:

Blogger Mark Cameron Boyd said...

Congratulations!

I can't think of a better suited, more intellectually rigorous and knowledgeable curator to cast a new sheen over the DC artscape.

5:57 PM  
Blogger Chip Chanko said...

Welcome to Arlington!!!

8:01 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Jeffry,

This is great news! Congrats!

I had almost given up on the AAC but my hope is renewed. You have quite a challenge ahead of you... this is one challenging space, or set of spaces. I look forward to seeing what you do with it!

9:16 AM  
Blogger kristina said...

congrats! I love the AAC..Keith Sharp's photographs and their recent outdoor sculpture series 'Disintegration' were among my fave shows of the year. I'm glad you'll be bringing them some DC attention and adding to their great programming.

2:34 PM  
Blogger Lenny said...

Yay!

7:30 PM  
Blogger Sean Tubbs said...

Congratulations!

4:48 PM  
Blogger Claudia Rousseau said...

Jeffry, congratulations! As others have said, I can't think of anyone more able to rise to this challenge.

2:17 PM  

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