Curator, Shannon R. Stratton will talk about the trajectory of her practice from studio to curatorial work and the impact of her background in craft on her perspective on arts administration. Based in Queens, NY, Stratton earned her MA in Art, History, Theory, and Criticism and her MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. She is currently the Interim Senior Curator at The John Michael Kohler Arts Center and core faculty in the Critical Craft Studies Graduate program at Warren Wilson College.
Stratton’s multi-disciplinary practice approaches organizing cultural platforms and events as collaborative, context-responsive acts of care. From 2015 to 2019 she was Chief Curator at The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York where she launched the Burke Prize, an annual award that reinforces the Museum’s commitment to celebrating the next generation of artists working in and advancing the disciplines that shaped the American studio craft movement. While at MAD, Shannon programmed 35 exhibitions, including the works of Tanya Aguiñiga, Harry Bertoia, and Roger Brown. In 2010 she co-curated the exhibition Gestures of Resistance with artist Judith Leemann at the former Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, OR.
Tuesday, September 10th at 12:30pm
VCU Institute for Contemporary Art
601 W. Broad St.