VisArts Emerging Curator Program 2025
Application Deadline: January 10, 2025, Midnight
VisArts invites applications from emerging curators to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition at VisArts in the Kaplan Gallery in the fall of 2025.
The VisArts Emerging Curator Program offers a unique opportunity for an emerging curator or artist with an interest in exhibition-making or curating to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition and to assist in the presentation of the mentor’s exhibition. To develop expanded education programming and enhanced visitor experiences, the 2025 Emerging Curator and the 2025 Mentoring Curator will also focus on developing tools to support public programming that promotes social interaction, creative exchange, and audience engagement.
VisArts will provide the Emerging Curator with a $10,000 budget to cover exhibition costs and curatorial fees. Additional staff support for printing, promotions, and execution of exhibition programming is available. The program is one year and will begin in January 2025.
International applicants must be eligible to work in the United States. VisArts is unable to provide or assist with visas.
The selection panel includes the VisArts Galleries Director & Curator, Artist Advisory Council, and the 2025 Mentoring Curator.
VisArts is a nonprofit arts center in Rockville, Maryland. We’re the largest visual arts organization in the area and an active, significant presence in the greater metropolitan arts community. Our contemporary art galleries, artist studios, and 355 POD Space Gallery are located in Rockville Town Square, a thriving gathering place for the local community. VisArts presents exhibitions of contemporary art in our five galleries, along with related programs and events. We also offer Emerging Curator and Studio Artist Programs along with art classes and VisAbility Art Lab, our supported studio for adult emerging artists with disabilities.
2025 Mentoring Curator: Rebecca Cross
As the owner and director of Cross MacKenzie Gallery from 2006 - 2022, Cross presented nearly 300 artists in over 150 art exhibitions, and art fairs in NYC, LA and Venice Italy. She was a guest curator for the American University Art Museum at the Katzen Center - “MORE CLAY- The Power of Repetition” and curated “Macho the Mask of Masculinity” for DCAC. Post college, while living in a coffee bean warehouse in Wapping, London, she assisted renowned sculptor, Sir Anthony Caro and taught part-time at Southwark College. Her early studio practice featured solo painting shows at Addison Ripley Gallery, DC, group shows including “Hypercolorism” at Gallery D’este in NYC and commissioned work for hotels and restaurants. She designed sets and costumes for Bresee Danskompani’s “Unstill Lives” performed in Oslo and the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre, and for City Ballet of Boston’s “Urban Nutcracker” by Tony Williams, now in its 25th year. A MacDowell Fellow, Cross’ public collections include the Washington Convention Center, Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery and the US State Department. Her ceramics were long sold through Barney’s New York, Costa Mesa and Japan. Cross has participated as a juror, lecturer or panelist for multiple arts organizations including The Smithsonian Craft Show, the Virginia AIA, Women’s Caucus for Art, Bethesda Fine Art Festival and the Washington Project for the Arts. Her awards include grants from DC Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Scandinavian American Society. She served on the board of the Renwick Alliance for Craft from 2007-2014 and is a member of the Craft Advisory Council for VisArt’s Center for Craft Studies.
Curatorial Collaboration
During the yearlong program, the curatorial team (mentoring curator and emerging curator) will:
- Conduct curatorial research
- Develop a cohesive and compelling exhibition proposal
- Develop writing skills for catalogs and other printed and online materials
- Develop budgets for executing exhibitions and exhibition programming
- Communicate with artists and lending institutions, developing contracts and loan information
- Research and develop a plan for incorporating technology upgrades to gallery programming through website enhancements, use of tablets and apps, and production of video and audio materials
- Design and implement educational exhibition programming and outreach activities that engage artists, curators, and public audience of all ages
- Develop sponsorship/fundraising initiatives to support the exhibition programming (if needed)
- Oversee exhibition design and installation
- Develop marketing and public relations materials in support of the exhibition, such as press releases, website + social media content, and print media
The VisArts Emerging Curator Program provides emerging curators with practical, hands-on experience at a community arts organization. It’s designed to support diverse exhibitions presenting a broad spectrum of ideas and curatorial approaches. In addition, it enhances the VisArts exhibition experience by developing educational opportunities, public programming, and opportunities for community engagement through expanded use of interactive interpretive media.
Application
Applicants don’t need to have a fully realized curatorial proposal, but we’re interested in getting a sense of your interests, tastes, and sensibilities. The formal proposal will be developed with the support and guidance of the 2025 Mentoring Curator and the Galleries Department.
To apply online, create a Submittable account and complete the form.
Submission Requirements
1. Application form
2. CV
3. Evidence of past curatorial projects:
- Up to 10 still images
- Up to five minutes of video and audio tracks
- List of images with artist name, title, year, medium, and descriptive information
- Supporting PDF documents
4. A statement that addresses the following:
- What makes presenting an exhibition in a nonprofit community arts center with the guidance of a mentor an ideal opportunity?
- What do you hope to achieve with this exhibition and mentoring program?
- What do you consider your curatorial intentions or interests in regard to exhibition-making?
- How do you envision enriching the audience experience?
- How would you engage the community?
- What sorts of programming and content delivery would you like to see paired with exhibitions?
Timeline
- Application deadline: January 10, 2025
- Finalists notified: January 17, 2025
- Finalist interviews: January 21-22, 2025
- Emerging Curator notified: January 24, 2025
- Program: January 2025 – January 2026 (detailed schedule TBD)
- Emerging Curator exhibition: November 14, 2025 - January 18, 2026
- Mentoring Curator exhibition: August 1 - September 28, 2025
About VisArts
VisArts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Our mission is to transform individuals and communities through the visual arts.
A hub for artistic exploration and social impact since 1987, VisArts brings people together through shared creative experiences, including:
- Critically acclaimed contemporary art exhibitions, programs + events
- Studio Artist and Emerging Curator programs
- Award-winning art classes, camps, and parties for children and adults
- VisAbility Art Lab and Accessible Arts classes for artists with disabilities
- Community art workshops
- Art and wellness programs
- Volunteer and internship opportunities
- The annual Rockville Arts Festival
These inspire new ideas, encourage self-expression, embrace diverse perspectives, and celebrate the visual arts as fundamental to a connected community.