Staff Reports | Community Updates
Ceci Moss will start on July 14 as the new director and chief curator for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, which is operated by the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts.
Dr. Moss is a curator, writer and educator with 20 years of professional practice organizing solo, group, touring and online exhibitions — as well as public programs, performances and screenings — in museums, galleries and artist-run spaces, according to a press release.
She most recently served as the director and chief curator of the Mandeville Art Gallery at the University of California in San Diego, the release states.
“We are excited to have Dr. Moss lead the small-but-mighty SMoCA team into the future,” said Scottsdale Arts President and CEO Gerd Wuestemann, “Coming into this role with an excellent educational and curatorial background and experience in both independent arts center and academic settings, this is a great next step in her career path.”
Mandeville Art Gallery is a non-collecting institute for contemporary art with a five-decade history of presenting innovative exhibitions in the context of a major research university.
While leading that museum, Dr. Moss also held a dual appointment as a professor of practice in UC San Diego’s department of visual arts, where she taught courses in museum and curatorial studies. She has a master of arts and a doctorate in comparative literature from New York University and a bachelor of arts in history and sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Moss’ past positions also include founding director of Gas (Los Angeles), assistant curator of visual arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, senior editor of the art and technology nonprofit arts organization Rhizome (New York City) and special projects coordinator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York City).
“Multidisciplinary arts organizations like Scottsdale Arts, and my former institution YBCA, bring together artists across various practices — such as visual arts, music, dance, theater, film and public art — in a way that simply would not occur in more traditional, siloed institutions,” Dr. Moss said. “I look forward to working within this structure, which I believe advances unique cross-disciplinary experimentation and creative dialogue.”
Dr. Moss said she views museums as “living, active spaces that invite audiences to connect more meaningfully with themselves, their communities and the world.”
Though her curatorial and academic portfolio is diverse, Dr. Moss’ past work often delved into technology’s influence on culture and art.
“I plan to integrate technology and innovation into the museum’s multidisciplinary focus on contemporary art, architecture and design while continuing to build on SMoCA’s reputation as a platform for high-profile exhibitions by emerging artists at pivotal moments in their careers,” Dr. Moss said.
Dr. Wuestemann noted the significance of timing in hiring Moss to lead SMoCA, which has the distinction of being accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Not only is SMoCA now beginning the process of reaccreditation.
“During the extensive national search, we got to know Dr. Moss as a passionate arts advocate with a sense of humor, an excellent curator with an eye for what’s next and a scrappy nonprofit ambassador who can do a lot with limited resources,” Dr. Wuestemann said. “We found the right candidate to propel us forward.”
