Andria Hickey appointed as Senior Curator

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), known nationally and internationally for its leadership in shaping and advancing contemporary culture, has announced the appointment of Andria Hickey, formerly of New York City’s Public Art Fund, as its Senior Curator. Hickey’s appointment follows a national search. She will assume her full duties in early September.

“Over several years, I have come to know Andria as a contemporary curator of the highest order and as one whose ambitions and interests are ideally suited to MOCA’s plans for future growth,” says Jill Snyder, the Donna + Stewart Kohl Executive Director of MOCA. “We were looking for a rising star in the international art world. From her early career at the acclaimed Walker Art Center in Minneapolis to leaving an imprint on New York City through the Public Art Fund, Andria will be a perfect partner as MOCA approaches its 50th anniversary in 2019 with aspirations for greater global reach and further assertion of our public value.”

Adds Hickey: “I am thrilled to be joining MOCA. With the museum's growing programmatic reach and dedication to artists and community-building, this is a fantastic opportunity to create meaningful exchange with a broader global art world. I look forward to working with the institution to create a platform for artistic research, cross-disciplinary experimentation and civic engagement. Now more than ever museums like MOCA are spaces that can position contemporary art as a vehicle for dialogue, actively responding to the changing needs of artists both near and far."

As Senior Curator, Hickey will provide leadership and vision for MOCA’s exhibitions program, developing and implementing a series of exhibitions of globally significant contemporary art and artists. A member of the Museum’s senior management team, she will oversee a staff of four.

From 2011–16 as curator at the Public Art Fund, Hickey curated public art projects throughout New York City with artists such as Martin Creed, Fischli & Weiss, Hank Willis Thomas, Danh Vo, Sam Falls, Katharina Grosse, Olaf Breuning, Monika Sosnowska, and Oscar Tuazon as well as group exhibitions in city parks such as Image Objects (2015); Lightness of Being (2014); Configurations (2013); and A Promise Is a Cloud (2012). Previously, she was Curator at Art in General (2010–11) and Curatorial Fellow in Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (2007–10). While at the Walker, she collaborated on exhibitions and publications including The Quick and the Dead (2008), Haegue Yang: Integrity of the Insider (2009), and Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers (2010), among others. She has contributed texts to a variety of publications and pursues independent curatorial projects, most recently curating the group show, Objects Food Rooms, at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in 2015.

A. Will Brown also joins MOCA as Assistant Curator beginning in July. “Will is a dynamic, wide-ranging, up-and-coming curator with compelling experience in film and video,” says Snyder. Most recently Curatorial Assistant of Contemporary Art at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art, Brown has worked extensively as an independent curator as well as for the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and the Kadist Art Foundation both in San Francisco.

Brown’s most recent independent project involved co-curating and managing a large independent public art project, Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia, funded by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. Monument Lab featured a temporary public artwork, Prototype Monument for Center Square by Terry Adkins, along with over 20 public programs including lectures, panels and performances.

A prolific writer, Brown is a regular contributor of artist interviews, exhibition reviews and scholarly texts for Daily Serving, Hyperallergic, Art Practical, RISD Museum’s Manual Magazine, and Studio International.

MOCA Cleveland, founded in 1968, is a leading force in Northeast Ohio’s cultural scene and is recognized nationally and internationally for its presentation of contemporary art and ideas. For more information on MOCA and all of its programming, visit mocacleveland.org.

Contact: Peter Vertes
T 216 658 6913 / pvertes@mocacleveland.org