Artpace San Antonio announces new
Executive Director Regine Basha
Artpace is pleased to announce that Regine Basha has been appointed Executive Director. A search committee headed by Board Chairperson J. Travis Capps, Jr. announced that Basha will assume her post by March 1, 2012.
Basha brings nearly 20 years of experience conceiving and producing innovative curatorial projects that focus on the creation and circulation of contemporary art in both the local and global arena. Her career began in Montreal as Director of the Art Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre (1991–1995) before moving to New York in 1997, and working from there independently in cities including Istanbul, Cairo, Berlin, and Santiago, among others. From 1998–2001, she held the post of Cultural Affairs Officer for the Canadian Consulate, overseeing the funding of New York-based art and music productions.
From 2002–2007, she was based in Austin, Texas, where, as Adjunct Curator and Consultant for Arthouse at the Jones Center, she initiated a residency program, oversaw the first Arthouse Texas Prize and cultivated numerous collaborative ventures for the institution. During this time, she also co-founded the web-based organizations, Fluent-Collaborative.org and Grackleworld.org aimed to stimulate the creation of new art networks. Her essays can be found in numerous artists’ catalogs as well as in publications such as Modern Painters, Cabinet, Art in America, and Art Papers. Basha sits on the board of Art Matters and Aurora Picture Show and is a frequent visiting guest to universities, juries, and residency programs worldwide.
“Artpace’s mission to inspire through the creation and advancement of contemporary art and belief that art is an important social force is a model for major art institutions throughout the world,” states Basha. “I look forward to working with such a dynamic organization as it evolves and continues to challenge the role of contemporary art while fostering creative careers and giving access to the public.”
As an independent curator, Regine has worked towards expanding the format of exhibitions and providing specific contexts for new artworks, ranging from public art interventions, to broadcast radio transmission, to collaborations in print and online programming. Notable recent exhibitions include: Paul Pfieffer, The Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (Fall 2012); An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, MASS MoCA/Cabinet Space, North Adams, MA/Brooklyn, NY (2011); Speculative Futures with Julieta Aranda, Cao Fei, Beth Campbell, and Ana Prvacki, SculptureCenter at Bloomberg Headquarters, New York, NY (2011); Seedlings, The Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX (2010); A Series of Coincidences: Daniel Bozhkov, Serkan Ozkaya, John Menick, Dario Robleto, Cabinet, New York, NY (2009); The Marfa Sessions, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX (2009); The Activist Impulse, Women and Their Work, Austin, TX (2008); Julieta Aranda, Sala Diaz, San Antonio, TX (2008).
“From her extensive experience in Texas and beyond, and her energy and excitement for collaboration and innovation in the arts, Regine is the perfect addition to Artpace as we look towards an exciting future,” acknowledges Capps.
Regine, who is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and Hebrew graduated from New York University and Concordia University in Studio Art (Montreal) and holds a Master’s of Arts from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (New York).
About Artpace
Artpace is a contemporary art center located in San Antonio, Texas, with residencies, exhibitions, and education programs that nurture the creative expression of emerging and established artists, while actively engaging youth and adult audiences. Renowned for its International Artist-in-Residence program (IAIR), Artpace annually hosts three eight-week residencies, each of which features one Texas artist, one national artist and one international artist, who are all selected by a notable guest curator, and culminates into an exhibition. The mission of this program is to provide artists with unparalleled resources that allow them to take time, seize provocative risks, and unveil new ideas.
Media Contact: Matt Johns
t 210 212 4900 x314
mjohns@artpace.org
www.artpace.org
