Wesleyan University and Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance announce new Master of Arts in Performance Curation degree program
announce new Master of Arts in Performance Curation degree program
Two-year low residency MA program to begin in summer of 2015;
Existing pilot ten-month Certificate Program in Performance Curation also made permanent.
Middletown, Conn.—Wesleyan University and the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) are pleased to announce the approval of a new Master of Arts in Performance Curation degree program, in addition to the permanent establishment of the Certificate Program in Performance Curation.
The Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance was founded in 2010, and introduced as a pilot initiative in 2011, by Wesleyan graduates Samuel A. Miller and Pamela Tatge, Director of the Center for the Arts, in partnership with Judy Hussie-Taylor and New York’s Danspace Project. ICPP is the first institute of its kind, a center for the academic study of the presentation and contextualization of contemporary performance. Distinct from graduate programs in Curatorial Studies, Arts Administration, Performance Studies, and the Humanities, ICPP offers its students a graduate-level education in innovative and relevant curatorial approaches to developing and presenting time-based art.
As performance becomes more embedded in museum programs and collaborative projects combine performance with other artistic disciplines in new ways, the need for a curatorial language and discourse around performance has become all the more pressing. Rather than narrowing in on a single authoritative definition of performance curation, ICPP’s aim has been to create a pluralistic conversation around contemporary performance, providing fundamental tools – a history of critical ideas; intellectual frameworks; and the application of theory to practice – necessary to developing new approaches in the field. ICPP is interested in being inclusive of curatorial models that stem from diverse geographic, ethnic, and social spheres.
Beginning in the summer of 2015, the new MA is a two-year, low residency program that can be pursued concurrently with one’s existing professional responsibilities. The MA is for those who seek a deeper immersion in the theory and practice of performance curation and desire more opportunities for substantive critical writing, as well as those who require an advanced graduate degree to be considered for higher-level positions in the field. During both years of the program, students will participate in a two-week summer intensive, as well as four-day intensives in the fall and spring. In addition, there will be one semester-long field placement per year.
After three successful pilot years, the Certificate Program will continue to provide a ten-month low residency program for those who seek a fundamental intellectual framework and a specialized peer network to support their work in the expanding field of performance. The Certificate includes a single two-week summer intensive, plus three-day intensives in the fall and spring.
Past certificate alumni are active curators, artists, and arts professionals from around the world, working independently and at institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Danspace Project, Pepatián (Bronx, New York), New England Foundation for the Arts, Cowles Center (Minneapolis), Ringling Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Stanford University, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Walker Art Center, and Williams College.
Core faculty for both programs will include Wesleyan’s Associate Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton, Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio, and Associate Professor of Art Elijah Huge; and field professionals Samuel A. Miller, President, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Judy Hussie-Taylor, Executive Director of Danspace Project, New York; Kristy Edmunds, Executive and Artistic Director, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA; Thomas Lax, Associate Curator in the Department of Media and Performance Art, Museum of Modern Art; and Philip Bither, Senior Curator of Performing Arts, Walker Art Center; among others.
Applications for both programs are now available online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/icpp. The deadline for submitting all application materials is Thursday, January 15, 2015.
Leadership support for the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
For more information about the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance, please e-mail icpp@wesleyan.edu or visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/icpp.