Call for applications: MA Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere

USC Roski announces the 2019 MA Curatorial exhibition
one never remembers alone 
Opening: December 4, 6pm
On view December 4, 2019–January 19, 2020 (holiday closure: December 19–January 7)

USC Graduate Gallery, Roski Graduate Bldg, 1262 Palmetto St, LA  CA 90013

The exhibition brings together emerging and mid-career artists whose work explore iterations of memory through the embodied experience of diaspora. Artists in the exhibition work in photography, video, painting, sculpture, and mixed media and have cultural roots in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the United States, Vietnam and Yemen. 

Participating artists include: Amal Amer, Susu Attar, Kevin Beasley, Beatriz Cortez, Alexandre Dorriz, Maria Dumlao, Sebastián Hernández, Ann Le, Joiri Minaya and Boone Nguyen. one never remembers alone is curated by the 2020 USC Roski MA Candidates in Curatorial Practices, Loujain Bager, Eve Moeykens-Arballo, Bianca Moran, Carlo Tuason and Joseph Valencia. 

Study with world-renowned art historians, critics and curators in the USC Roski MA in Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere. 

The Masters in Curatorial Practices is an intensive master’s-level program in the practice and history of curating studied through the lenses of critical theory, art history and visual culture. During two years of full-time academic seminars and professional training, students explore a range of curatorial practices applicable to diverse institutions and curatorial formats.

Courses are led by USC Roski’s acclaimed artists, scholars, critics and curators. Current faculty includes: Andrew Campbell, Amelia Jones, Suzanne Lacy, Jenny Lin, Karen Moss (director of the MA program) and Anu Vikram. USC Roski graduate students take full advantage of courses in a leading research university and the huge range of art events across Los Angeles.

In three consecutive Practicum courses, students conceptualize and curate an exhibition or other curatorial project during the first two semesters, then produce a publication or another kind of public interface in the final semester. Additionally, students complete scholarly research and write on a topic of their choice for the MA Thesis. 

Students engage with visiting artists, curators and scholars via classes, one-on-one meetings and internships. Given the school’s location in Los Angeles, a diverse and vibrant cultural landscape, students take field trips to galleries, museums and artist-run spaces across the city and beyond. 

The MA program can also be combined with a Master of Planning in a dual-degree program offered by USC Roski and the USC Price School of Public Policy to pair knowledge of planning, community development, and administration with an understanding of urban public space.

The Visiting Artist and Scholar Seminar and the Resident Artists and Scholars Program bring nationally and internationally known artists, curators and scholars to work directly with the MA students throughout each semester. Recent visitors include Nayland Blake, Tania Bruguera, Minerva Cuevas, Theaster Gates, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Senga Nengudi, Pepon Osorio, Mira Schor, Hamza Walker, and lauren woods. 

The program is housed in a new, state-of-the art facility located in the vibrant Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. The Arts District—home to dozens of museums, galleries, design firms, artists and designers—is a newly rejuvenated urban neighborhood comprised of brick, cement and wood beamed industrial warehouses, many repurposed and accented with diverse murals by local artists. 

The 25,000-square-foot facility boasts an MA/MFA seminar conference room and library, an open-plan design studio, individual MFA studios, a maker space, classrooms and collaboration spaces. The facility also includes the new 2,000 square-foot Roski Graduate Gallery, one of several university venues where MA candidates may organize exhibitions.

Recent Roski MA Curatorial alums work in galleries and museums including the Aspen Art Museum; California African American Museum; Getty Research Institute; Hauser & Wirth, LA; LACMA; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE); MOCA, LA; Prospect, New Orleans; Rhizome, NY; The Underground Museum, and the Whitney Museum. 

Applications accepted on a space available basis after January 15, 2020

Information session details and rsvps here.

For more details, contact: penelope [​at​] usc.edu