about me
I was born in Texas, raised on the gulf coastline of Alabama. I received a BFA from Massey University in Wellington New Zealand in 2009 and a MFA from Goddard College, Port Townsend Washington in 2014. When I travel I like to try to get lost. I draw maps of my movements that sometimes (but don't always) lead me back home.
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statement
I work as a curator, performer, writer, listener, organizer, maker, and doer. I view my work as a form of story-telling, the medium I pick up depends entirely on what story I am hoping to tell. I believe the stories we tell make us who we are; that stories have the power to challenge and sometimes change us, and that the role of the artist is to pose questions rather than give answers.
As a curator I prefer to work on projects where the art doesn't exist yet. Rather than gathering and arranging existing objects and practices, the projects that drive me primarily commission new work based on urgent and unanswered questions. I've worked on projects that enlist artists into difficult histories, social justice, and cultural memory most often. I am artist-led in my approach, focusing on creating sustainable and equitable opportunities that grow folx- artists and communities alike.
My artistic interests generally center around vulnerability, and private vs. public space/identity/information. I'm a better curator than I am an artist, but i still like to muck around. Also I'm in a punk band.
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c.v.
From the desk of:
elizabet elliott
Artist/ Curator/ Writer/ Community Organizer
Education
BFA, Painting, First Class Honors, MASSEY UNIVERSITY Wellington, New Zealand —2009
MFA of Interdisciplinary Art, GODDARD COLLEGE, Port Townsend, Washington —2013
Professional Experience
Executive Director/Curator, Alabama Contemporary Art Center ⏐Mobile, Alabama January 2020 - Present
Director of Exhibitions, Alabama Contemporary Art Center ⏐Mobile, Alabama November 2018- January 2020
Curator of Programs, Mobile Museum of Art ⏐Mobile, Alabama September 2014- November 2018
Curator of Adult Education, Mobile Museum of Art ⏐Mobile, Alabama March 2014- January 2015
Founder/Executive Director, The Rumor Union ⏐Mobile, Alabama 2010- 2014
Freelance Project Consulting/ Curating⏐ Mobile, Alabama 2007- 2014
Vice President, The Downtown Creative Wellness Foundation ⏐Mobile, Alabama 2010-2012
Publicity Writer, Engine Room Gallery ⏐Wellington, New Zealand 2007- 2009
Curation
VARIOUS SOLO EXHIBITIONS by:
Y. Malik Jalal | Zipporah Camille Thompson | K. Yoland | Tony Bingham | Valerie George | Colleen Comer | Brandon Dean | Jenny Day | Soynika Edwards Bush | Sally Heller | Abe Partridge | Charles Edward Williams | Cedric Smith
VARIOUS THEMATIC GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
ALABAMA TRIENNIAL, Co-curated with Hannah Spears and Sydney Foster, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA), upcoming 2025
HURRICANE PARTY, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, January 2024
SOIL: RADICAL EMPATHY IN THE ACT OF REMEMBRANCE, in partnership with Mobile Community Remembrance Group, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, April 2023
DIFFERENT/FIT: EUGENICS IN ALABAMA 1919-1935, Mobile Medical Museum, September 2020
URBAN WILD, Mobile Museum of Art, and Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile AL, May 2019
FOR FREEDOMS: ALABAMA, Exhibition prompted by For Freedoms Federation, as part of the 50 State Initiative, Mobile Museum of Art in partnership with twenty other arts organizations statewide, Mobile AL, 2018
DO IT, Exhibition by Independent Curators International, Original concept Hans Ulrich Obrist, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile AL, 2018
ART:WORK, Mobile Museum of Art Mobile AL, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
REVERBERANT, A Performance Series, Hive Mobile AL, in conjunction with Happy Birthday John Cage at the Mobile Museum of Art, 2013
FRONT PORCH SESSIONS, A Performance Series, Centre for the Living Arts, Mobile AL, In conjunction with The Memory Lab, 2012
TEMPORAL CITY FESTIVAL, Multi-site Mobile, AL, Annual 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
REDEMPTION, A Two Day Contemporary performance and installation event, Multi-Site Mobile AL, 2009
WIFE, Deluxe, Wellington New Zealand, Coordinated by Steven Templer, 2008
DO SOMETHING GENUINE, The Engine Room, Wellington New Zealand, 2008
MA MERE, Satori, Mobile, Al, Coordinated by Sarah Parvardeh, 2007
Outreach Projects
Teaching Artist Project (T.A.P.) ⏐ The Museum School of the Mobile Museum of Art, the Mobile Arts Council, and Alabama Contemporary Art Center | Mobile Alabama 2016- Ongoing
Who I Am ⏐ Mobile County Training School, Mobile Museum of Art | Mobile, Alabama 2015
The Hive ⏐ The Rumor Union | Mobile, Alabama 2012- 2015
The True Legend of Me Project ⏐The Rumor Union, Wilmer Hall Orphanage| Mobile, Alabama 2011
Collaborative Projects
HISTORIC AVENUE CULTURAL CENTER ⏐ Mobile, Alabama 2013
Founding and programmatic partner on a new community cultural center in the renovated African American Archives Building and old “Black Library,” in partnership with the Mobile County Commission
In collaboration with the Mobile Museum of Art, the Mobile Arts Council, The Mobile Symphony, University of South Alabama, Springhill College, The Botanical Gardens, Centre for the Living Arts.
Collaboration between Rick Lowe of Project Row Houses, Tracy Hicks and I, this is a community project that began at Space 301 Centre for the Living Arts with an installation called 301c.
Festivals and Re-occurring Programs
Happy Birthday John Cage ⏐ Mobile, Alabama 2013
Memory Lab ⏐ Mobile, Alabama 2012
Ballad of The Bear King ⏐ Mobile, Alabama 2012
An Immersive theater collaboration between Jimmy Lee, Michael Waldron, and Adam Taylor
Night of the Dead Artists ⏐ Mobile Museum of Art, AIDS Alabama South, Education Department at the University of South Alabama | Mobile, Alabama 2016-18
The Night Market ⏐Mobile Museum of Art| Mobile, Alabama 2015-18
LIVE @ The Museum Concert Series ⏐Mobile Museum of Art | Mobile, Alabama 2014-17
Temporal City Festival ⏐The Rumor Union (Multi-site) | Mobile, Alabama 2010- 2014
Freelance Labor Auctions ⏐ The Rumor Union (Multi-site) | Mobile, Alabama 2010- 2013
Spoken Song Festival ⏐ The Rumor Union (Multi-site) | Mobile, Alabama 2010
Panel Reviewer:
National Endowment for the Arts | Southarts | Alabama State Council for the Arts |
Current Art Fund | Nexus Fund | Mobilize Fund
Skills & Interests
My skills include curating, organizational leadership & structure, strategic planning, grass-roots organizing, program and project consulting, graphic design, illustration, technical writing, publicity writing, creative and critical writing, grant-writing, project planning and resource management, scenic design, public speaking and performance, and concept building for teams.
My areas of specialty are in regional art and post-object / installation art, however I have a strong background in painting. I am interested in contemporary art that holds a meaningful relationship to place. I have worked with artists of every disciple and enjoy curating for exhibitions in which the art must be made, as well as drawing from existing work of artists on a thematic basis. I am most interested in work dealing with cultural identity, narrative, and issues relevant to the community.
Publications
Surface Design Journal, DOUGLAS BAULOS: SURVIVING THE WRECKAGE OF EVERYTHING, Winter 2019