Spotlight: Jill Slaughter, chief curator of The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery
Jill Slaughter is chief curator of The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery, located at the new Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. Slaughter was most recently head of cultural projects for the City of Pembroke Pines. The city has been developing contemporary cultural programming for the past decade to create a sense of place and develop cultural tourism inBroward County. As part of an overall plan to engage the community and support the arts, the city launched an artist studio space for which she was hired to manage and curate. Slaughter’s passion and dedication to the arts has been life-long. She studied painting and film making/ art at The San Francisco Art Institute andwas awarded the Whitney Museum Independent Scholarship to pursue performance art and curatorial work inNewYork.
Why I’m a good fit: The merger ofmy skills, as a curator and arts practitioner, affords me the opportunity to work with artists, guest curators, performers and thought leaders to share work that is essential to building an inclusive creative community. On the job strategies What I do: The in-depth demands of a curator include but are not limited to: concept development, research, artist outreach and support, writing exhibition text and developing graphic design concept. Developing space plan and working with installation crew.
Work begins each day: With my critical examination of what best supports the current exhibition, and how my staff and I will move forward to provide opportunities for our audience to not only view art, but interact with each other and self-reflect.
What’s new: Curating [and] viewing art has gone beyond the boundaries of predictable structures and strategies. Art has become a tool to foster connection and stimulate economy.
Advice: Learn the academic fundamentals of design and curatorial studies. Become part of the community. Do what you say do, followup. you’ll ckent@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4662, twitter @mindingyourbiz