Curator’s Perspective: Allison Glenn

RSVP for Independent Curators International (ICI)’s upcoming Curator’s Perspective—an itinerant public discussion series featuring national and international curators—featuring Allison Glenn (Senior Curator, Public Art Fund and Co-Curator, Counterpublic Triennial 2023, St. Louis). Glenn will present on her groundbreaking exhibition Promise, Witness, Remembrance, which she guest curated at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY in 2021.

The exhibition offered novel ways of thinking through ideas of solidarity, identity, care, positionality, and value in an institutional, and intersectional, context. Organized around Amy Sherald’s portrait of Breonna Taylor, the exhibition reflected on the legacy of Taylor—who was killed by Louisville police in March of 2020—and on the nationwide demonstrations and activism for racial justice that followed, through artworks and ideas that consider the symbolism of American ideologies and histories of the United States. During a time when many arts institutions continue to reevaluate their complicity in white supremacy and anti-Black discrimination, Promise, Witness, Remembrance proposed a paradigm-shifting curatorial model that charts a path forward for museums to meaningfully engage with their communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized. Glenn will speak about how she incorporated community engagement into curatorial work itself, developing the exhibition in close collaboration with Breonna Taylor’s family, a National Advisory panel, and a Steering Committee of Louisville-based artists, researchers, community members, activists, and mental health practitioners convened by Toya Northington, the Speed’s Co-Interim Director of Education and Community Engagement Strategist.

This event is free and open to the public. To attend, RSVP to rsvp@curatorsintl.org with ALLISON GLENN in the subject line. Please note: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required for attendance; please be prepared to show proof of vaccination upon arrival at the event. 

About the Curator’s Perspective
The Curator’s Perspective is a free, itinerant public talk series featuring established US and international curators, who present on their work and research. It was developed to offer audiences ways to connect with timely information and a wide variety of international perspectives on contemporary art and curating today. The series sheds light on movements and models that are shaping the curatorial field today, addressing questions about art, culture, and the artists and exhibitions that curators look to.

The Curator’s Perspective series has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the James Howell Foundation and by generous contributions from the ICI Board of Trustees and ICI Access Fund. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council. ICI thanks the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice for serving as a venue partner for this event.

For more information, email ICI’s Programs Coordinator, Zoe Dobuler, at zoe@curatorsintl.org.