Director and Chief Curator

 

CAC's New Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator

Contemporary Arts Center is delighted to welcome Raphaela Platow to her new role.

Q&A with Raphaela Platow

Why are you coming to the CAC?
I am excited about all the possibilities this institution entails. Foremost is the incredible opportunity to newly envision and define what a center of contemporary art can be in a city that has avidly supported art of our time for almost 70 years. It is important to keep the history of the CAC in mind, with its founding in 1939 as Modern Art Society, while re-articulating its mission for the future. I am honored to continue the hard, enthusiastic work the staff, board, and community has put into the institution since its transition into the new Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art. I especially want to acknowledge the accomplishments of the CAC's impressive staff as well as its last two directors, Charles Demarais and Linda Shearer, both of whom I both greatly respect as colleagues.

What do you believe are the biggest opportunities for the CAC?
To become one of the most important, non-collecting, public centers for contemporary art between the coasts. In concert with that goal, it has the potential to continuously confirm the role of art and the creative process in an urban city center, to contribute to the creative, and intellectual life of the Cincinnati community, and to energize and be energized by the cultural infrastructure in Greater Cincinnati. The CAC is housed in a marvelous new building with an open lobby creating the opportunity to truly become the public plaza the architect envisioned: an open, hospitable, social space where people with diverse backgrounds can come together to connect, dialogue, imagine, and be inspired.

What's your vision for the CAC?
I envision a pulsating, welcoming place with excellent exhibitions, visiting artists, music, dj's, performances, dance, lectures, symposia, family programs, gallery talks, readings, other special events, as well as a café and bar. In other words, a hive of activity that is both challenging and enjoyable. The local community will engage with an international art community comprising artists, performers, djs, scholars, critics, curators. The CAC must also participate in larger public responsibilities that pertain to the greater Cincinnati community.

What intrigues me about contemporary culture with its diverse artistic expressions is that it is an ongoing process of creation that happens right now. Contemporary artistic expression is an experimental field, very often ephemeral. It's full of unpredictable discoveries and events that require flexibility and sensitivity. The immediate, exciting,layered, often multi-sensory experience of this process, and the fact that it reflects upon the world as we experience it around us, is one of contemporary art's important features. I aspire for the CAC to be a space in society for investigation, experimentation, questioning, and discovery, as well as an being open and active rather than a place of passive observation. At the same time I hope the CAC will become a buzzing social space: a place that invites people to make connections with others, and a place that encourages people's connection with the art of our time. I aspire to create a place where people can overcome their accessability issues with contemporary art and with institutional settings in general.

What will it take for the CAC to emerge nationally and internationally?
It will take very strong, diverse, interdisciplinary, global artistic and educational programs that address and respond to the local environment while at the same time bringing new ideas to the Cincinnati area. I believe in a program that is firmly rooted in its specific local while looking out to the world and addressing broader potential and concerns. With the CAC as facilitator and catalyst this will create a dynamic exchange of relevant contemporary aesthetics, issues, and ideas. By providing a diverse, well-balanced, program the CAC will become more and more relevant for both the local, national, and international community. To reach its highest potential and to become a superb, recognized institution locally, nationally, and internationally, the CAC will rely on the increased involvement from its community and supporters.

What do you consider as the top accomplishment of your career (so far?)
I have been able to engage and excite diverse communities through contemporary art in different places of the world. In Berlin, Munich, Raleigh, NC, and Boston, MA I have created a highly international exhibition program that also integrated art from national, and local artist communities. It has been exhilarating to see audiences engage with art from China, Brazil, Europe, The Philippines, the United States, etc. and to consider these works as part of their own experiences and world view. In addition I have managed to create well balanced, diverse programs that granted everybody who came to the museum a positive, engaging experience with contemporary artistic expression.

What is CAC's role in the Greater Cincinnati community?
In addition to all the above, it is to demonstrate the commitment that art, as one of society's most transformative forces, should be an integral part of our lives. Contemporary art in particular allows us to reflect upon the world we live in creatively and critically.

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CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER APPOINTS RAPHAELA PLATOW NEW ALICE & HARRIS WESTON DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CURATOR

Internationally recognized curator and arts administrator brings creativity, contemporary vision to role at CAC; will serve as Director and Chief Curator

CINCINNATI, May 1, 2007 -- Raphaela Platow has been named Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator at the Contemporary Arts Center in the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art following an international search, according to Otto M. Budig, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees. She will assume the post as Director and Chief Curator July 1.

Platow is an internationally respected art curator and art historian. A native of Munich, she joins the CAC from the Rose Art Museum in Massachusetts, where she is currently Chief Curator and also has served as Acting Director. Prior to the Rose, she was the International Curator with the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, was a staff member of the German pavilion at the 1999 Venice Biennale and worked in several galleries, project spaces and has written extensively about contemporary art.

"We are fortunate to have such a gifted professional in contemporary arts agree to lead our Center," Mr. Budig says. "Her knowledge and international relationships will greatly enhance the Contemporary Arts Center."

"I am excited about the incredible opportunity to newly envision and define what a center of contemporary art can be in a city that has avidly supported innovative and provocative contemporary expression for almost 70 years," Platow says. "It is important to keep in mind the history of the CAC and its roots as the Modern Art Society, while rearticulating its mission for the future."

Vision for Emerging Artists and Their Work
"Raphaela has demonstrated a gift for recognizing emerging artists," says Richard H. Rosenthal, who chaired the search committee. "She is an extraordinarily qualified candidate and has the vision to fill the CAC with compelling, challenging and culturally relevant art."

Platow's appointment is made at the recommendation of a search committee comprised of CAC trustees with the guidance of executive search firm Phillips Oppenheim. Staff also provided input into the process and selection.

"The CAC can become one of the most important, non-collecting, public centers for contemporary art between the coasts," Platow says. "It has the potential to continuously confirm the role of art and the creative process in an urban center. I believe the CAC also can contribute to the creative and intellectual life of the Cincinnati community, and energize and be energized by its cultural infrastructure.

The CAC is housed in a marvelous new building with an open lobby creating the opportunity to truly become the public plaza the architect envisioned: an open, hospitable, social space where people with diverse backgrounds can come together to connect, dialogue, imagine and be inspired.

"I envision a pulsating, welcoming place with excellent exhibitions, visiting international artists, music, dj's, performances, dance, lectures, symposia, family programs, gallery talks, readings, other special events," she continues. "In other words, a hive of activity that is both challenging and enjoyable. The CAC must also participate in larger public responsibilities that support and help build the community."

 

 

About Raphaela Platow

Raphaela Platow earned a M.A. in Art History and Business Administration from Humboldt University in Berlin, and her B.A. in Art History and Economics from Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg. Platow has certificates in French Civilization, Art History, and Philosophy from the University of Sorbonne in Paris.

 

Prior to her position at the CAC, she was chief curator and acting director at The Rose Art Museum of Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; International Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina; on the team of the German pavilion at the 1999 Venice Biennale; and worked in several private galleries and project spaces in Germany. Platow is known for her support of emerging artists and her keen eye for spotting new talent.