We are thrilled to announce that thanks to generous support from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), VoCA is now offering a selection of our Artist Interview Workshops entirely in Spanish.
“The commissioning and preservation of first-hand accounts from cultural producers in Latin America is a crucial aspect of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros’ mission to support scholarship and promote the appreciation of art and culture from the region,” says Alexa Halaby, co-director, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. “We are thrilled to partner with VoCA and assist them in sharing their extensive knowledge and techniques with artists, scholars and arts professionals in Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries, where oral histories have a long-standing cultural significance.”
VoCA’s grant from the NEA is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants. NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD shared: “Projects such as this one with VoCA strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”
VoCA’s Artist Interview Workshops provide conservators, curators, educators, and other arts professionals at all stages of their careers with a greater understanding of the methods and skills needed to conduct successful artist interviews. To date, more than 700 arts professionals from over 250 institutions worldwide have explored the process of artist interviews with us. “By offering our workshop to Spanish-speaking colleagues across the globe,” says VoCA’s Executive Director Lauren Shadford, “we continue to promote the message that interviewing artists is a uniquely complicated yet beautifully productive process for any arts professional and that interviews can be instrumental in the documentation and stewardship of an artist’s work.”
We are grateful to our partners and incredible planning committee for working with us to determine the feasibility of shifting our longstanding workshop curriculum to a Spanish-speaking audience. In hallmark VoCA fashion, a small, dedicated committee of colleagues have volunteered countless hours to develop this program. We are indebted to them for their vision and leadership in laying the groundwork for the initiative:
- Richard Cándida Smith, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Berkeley; Member of VoCA’s Board of Directors
- Ursula Davila-Villa, Art Historian and Legacy Specialist
- Ruth del Fresno-Guillem, Conservator and Researcher, Private Practice
- Gabriela Mizes, Principal Art Advisor at Gaby Mizes Fine Art
- Alexa Halaby, Co-Director, CPPC
- Ileen Kohn, Co-Director, CPPC
- Victor Ortiz-Palau, Digital Content and Communications, CPPC
The first two virtual Workshop programs will take place on May 8, 9, and 10, 2023 and July 10, 11, and 12, 2023. Applications can be submitted online, and are due by February 22, 2023. For more information (in Spanish), click HERE.
Image caption: The Artist Interview Workshop held in partnership with Glenstone, 2019. Photo by Dylan Lorenz.