FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IRA SACHS
I'm very excited to share this news, and to have the brilliant and passionate Travis Chamberlain join the Queer|Art team as our new Managing Director. We've been working towards this day -- our first full-time staff hire -- since we became a fully recognized 501c3 non-profit organization in 2015, and it represents both the success of our 8 years in action, and our commitment to longevity for years and generations ahead. What began as a one-off summer film series at 92Y Tribeca in 2009 emerges today as a rapidly growing organization with support from over 70 individuals, foundations, and institutional partners, sporting an acclaimed film program (Queer|Art|Film celebrates its 100th screening this year!) and robust mentorship program, with much more to come. We are thrilled for Travis to join us as we move into the next exciting phase of our development. Welcome, Travis, and thank you to all our Queer|Art supporters!
ABOUT TRAVIS CHAMBERLAIN
Travis Chamberlain brings over a decade of curatorial and managerial experience to Queer|Art. As the Associate Curator of Performance and Manager of Public Programs at the New Museum, and, prior to that, Artistic Director of Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, Chamberlain has worked closely with local and international artists to produce performances, residencies, and exhibitions that reflect a diverse and vibrant arts community. The New York Times commented: "In a city whose big, entrenched art institutions don’t always know what to do with performance, over the last couple of years Mr. Chamberlain has been quietly and steadily building relationships within various live art disciplines, making the New Museum an increasingly vibrant hub of residencies and events."
Chamberlain's proven commitment to supporting queer artists includes his curatorial work with such luminary figures as Ishmael Houston-Jones, Dennis Cooper, Karen Finley, Julie Tolentino, Wu Tsang, and Jennifer Monson, among many others. That work, with its intergenerational focus, continues to compel his interest in the excavation of marginalized cultural histories and the advancement of emerging queer voices. “I feel deeply connected to the principles of mentorship, tribute, and holding space that guide Queer|Art’s programming," Chamberlain says. “The sense of community, cultural lineage, and creative and spiritual support Queer|Art provides to the artists it serves—emerging, established, retired, and no longer living—are needed now in a particularly urgent way. I look forward to working with Ira and our board to expand upon the success of Queer|Art’s current programming and to advance the organization’s profile in dynamic new directions."