Update: Curatorial change at BCA

The Boston Center for the Arts has just officially announced the changes to programming at its Mills Gallery. The press release is a bit unclear about the particulars, but it seems that gallery programming will no longer be curated and organized by a gallery director, but will primarily be put together by guest curators overseen by a new visual arts manager and cultural advisory board. Gallery director Laura Donaldson is scheduled to leave at the start of August because the changes – as the BCA’s announcement explains – eliminate her position.

It’s unclear how much of a change this represents for BCA programming since Donaldson only curated one of the Mills Gallery’s five main exhibitions since last September (not including exhibitions in the gallery’s small project space).

According to the BCA’s press release, at the institution’s annual meeting on June 20 officials will “unveil a new chapter in its programming,” including:

a new curatorial model for the Mills Gallery that continues its groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary art, while opening its doors to diverse artistic voices and initiating a new series of performance art, film screenings, and poetry and play readings; and the deepening of the BCA's commitment to make the arts accessible to urban youth and neighborhood residents through its Cultural Partners Program.

…The restructuring of the BCA’s Arts & Community Programs Department will result in the elimination of the position of Mills Gallery Director. Laura Donaldson, who has held that position since 2004, will continue to offer her innovative perspective during the coming year as one in a series of guest curators.

A Curatorial Advisory Board will advise [Arts and Community Programs Director Wendy] Baring-Gould and a new Visual Arts Manager, who will assume leadership of the gallery and direct the 2007-08 exhibition season. Advisory Board members include: Edmund Barry Gaither, Director and Curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA); Camilo Alvarez, Director of Samson Projects; Barbara Krakow, President, Barbara Krakow Gallery; Stella A. McGregor, Director of The Cloud Foundation; and Carole Anne Mehan, curator of Vita Brevis at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Other Advisory Board members will be announced.

My previous posts on this matter are here and here.