Curatorial Initiative
The DC Arts Center’s
Fostering the next generation of diverse curators by providing access to a historically inaccessible field.
Providing access to
a field that’s historically inaccessible.
Julian Rumos’The Man, 2019
Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 48
The DC Arts Center, Hyper Focus, 2022
$1,750, purchase here.
ABOUT THE CURATORIAL INITIATIVE
The Curatorial Initiative reflects The DC Arts Center's commitment to fostering underrepresented artists by offering a rare, year-long opportunity to develop the fundamental skills of artistic curation. Each year, one to two Apprentice Curators are selected to work alongside a professional Mentor Curator in planning and mounting two to three full-scale exhibitions at The DC Arts Center.
First, with the assistance of the Apprentice Curator, the Mentor Curator leads the curatorial process -- honing vision, selecting artists, crafting a catalog, and bringing an exhibition from concept to installation. Then, the roles are reversed, and the Apprentice Curator leads the curatorial process with the assistance and advice of the Mentor Curator.
The Curatorial Initiative offers the next generation of diverse curators the chance to develop a critical and practical understanding of artistic curation while simultaneously developing an essential professional relationship with an industry-leading curator. Combined, one's newly developed skillset, relationship, and experience make a future in artistic curation possible.
2024 Mentor Curator
Introducing the
Fabiola R. Delgado
Mentor Curator
Fabiola R. Delgado is an independent curator and creative producer based in Washington, DC. A former Human Rights lawyer and political asylum seeker from Venezuela, she strives for justice through projects that challenge narratives and recenter neglected perspectives. She’s a USRAO National Leaders of Color Fellow and has worked with the likes of the Hirshhorn Museum, National Museum of American History, Washington Project for the Arts, Times Square Arts, and artist Mel Chin’s Fundred Project.
2023 Cohort
Introducing the
Jeffry Cudlin
Mentor Curator
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Since 2011, Washington, D.C.-based artist, critic, and curator Jeffry Cudlin has worked with students on hands-on, real-world projects in MICA's first-in-the-nation MFA in Curatorial Practice program founded by visionary curator George Ciscle.
Cudlin previously served as Director of Exhibitions for the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Contemporary, Baltimore’s nomadic art museum without walls. Cudlin has also worked as a performance artist, independent curator, painter, alternative comics artist, and musician.
His exhibition reviews have appeared in The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Sculpture Magazine. Cudlin served as museum critic for Washington City Paper for thirteen years, starting in 2004. In 2009 and 2008, Cudlin was awarded back-to-back national First Place Altweekly Awards for Arts Criticism in papers with circulation greater than 50,000. In 2006, he took Third Place in the same category. Cudlin received his M.F.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia.
Benedetta Castrioto
Apprentice Curator
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Benedetta Castrioto is a project manager and curator with a particular passion for multidisciplinary projects at the intersection between environmental sustainability and arts and culture. She is interested in innovative institutional practices and social critique, and is committed to exploring the geographic variety of these practices across the contemporary art world.
She was previously the program manager for Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa, and has worked with organizations in Ethiopia, Italy, Turkey and the UK as an advisor on public programs and the execution of site-specific works.
She holds an M.A. in Arts an Cultural Enterprise from Central Saint Martins and an M.Sc. in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. Currently, her research focuses on social practice and environmental art.
FAITH
Apprentice Curator
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FAITH (Eleisha Faith McCorkle) is a creative, curator, and culinary artist whose work unifies the notions of resilience and reconstruction. She uses storytelling and the process of collage to communicate the layered and complex multidimensionality of the black experience, creating large-scale scrolls, cooking and sharing soul food, and curating immersive experiences in her practice. Her work serves as purposeful interventions as she investigates and venerates blackness through space, food, power, spirit, grief, and magic. Channeling these aspects, she uncovers new positions of the black archetype, an archetype that is nurtured, powerfully resilient, and divinely guided.
D.C.-born and Prince George’s raised, FAITH holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a minor in Social & Cultural Analysis from New York University. She makes up one half of Hope and Faith, a collective formed with her twin sister Tonisha Hope McCorkle. PGCTV News, VoyageBaltimore, and the DC Public Library have recognized FAITH’s work. She has been the recipient of a DCCAH Art Bank Grant, a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, and has work permanently installed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. FAITH currently lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland, as an Artist-in-Residence with Creative Alliance, expanding past limitations and harnessing her power.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
DEADLINE EXTENDED: The deadline to apply for DCAC’s 2025 Curatorial Initiative will be December 15. Final decision outcomes will be communicated by December 31, 2024.
The DC Arts Center (DCAC) accepts proposals from interested candidates between January and November. Each year, 1 - 2 apprentice curators are selected for the program.
Applications are evaluated following the submission deadline, and candidates who advance in the process will be asked to interview in December. Final decision outcomes will be communicated by December 11, and successful candidates will begin the onboarding process before the winter holidays. The program runs for one year, from January to December.
We accept applications from all artists working seriously in their field and do not discriminate on any basis.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Artist Statement & Biography
Artist Resumé
Short Answer Questions
Writing Sample
2 References
$25 application fee (waived for Artist Members)
COST
$250 tuition (waived for Artist Members)
GALLERY QUICK FACTS
The DC Arts Center has two newly renovated art galleries — The Main Gallery and the Nano Gallery.
The Main Gallery features full-size work of all mediums and is approximately 700 square feet.
The Nano Gallery features small format work that can be easily hung and is approximately 125 square feet.
Artists retain a 60% commission on all work sold. 70% for Artist Members!
Apply to the 2025 cohort today!
Alumni &
Past Exhibitions
2023
Jeffry Cudlin
Mentor Curator
Benedetta Castrioto and FAITH McCorkle
Apprentice Curators
A Shared Sense of Time
Curated by Jeffry Cuddlin and assisted by Benedetta Castrioto and FAITH McCorkle
Labor of Fire*
Curated by Benedetta Castrioto
Da Cipher: responding to the call*
Curated by FAITH McCorkle
*Due to historic gallery renovations, the 2023 Apprentice Curators’ exhibitions took place in 2024.
2022
Claudia Rousseau
Mentor Curator
Ashley McDonald
Apprentice Curator
The Fragility of Their Nature
Curated by Claudia Rousseau and assisted by Ashley McDonald
On What I Can Control
Curated by Ashley McDonald
2021
Jayme McClellan
Mentor Curator
Katie Lee
Apprentice Curator
Navigating Through
Curated by Jayme McClellan and assisted by Katie Lee
The Vanishing Half
Curated by Katie Lee
2020
Jayme McClellan
Mentor Curator
Christina Stoddard
Apprentice Curator
Navigating Through
Curated by Jayme McClellan and assisted by Christina Stoddard
Postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
2019
Dawne Langford
Mentor Curator
Monique Muse Dodd
Apprentice Curator
Intermediate: Fluxus Interpretations
Curated by Dawne Langford and assisted by Monique Muse Dodd
Reparations Realized
Curated by Monique Muse Dodd
2018
Tim Doud & Zoe Charlton
Mentor Curators
Andy Johnson
Apprentice Curator
Queer(ing) Pleasure
Curated by Andy Johnson and assisted by Tim Doud & Zoe Charlton
Queer(ed) Performativity
Curated by Andy Johnson and assisted by Tim Doud & Zoe Charlton
2017
Rebecca Cross
Mentor Curator
Sarah Burford
Apprentice Curator
Macho - The Mask of Masculinity
Curated by Rebecca Cross and assisted by Sarah Burford
Denatured
Curated by Sarah Burford
2016
Tomas Drymon
Mentor Curator
Martina Dodd
Apprentice Curator
Sip and Paint Van Gogh’s The Starry Night
Curated by Tomas Drymon and assisted by Martina Dodd
Public Displays of Privacy
Curated by Martina Dodd
2015
Jefferson Pinder
Mentor Curator
Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell
Apprentice Curator
Self/Non-Self: Sequence and Abstraction
Curated by Jefferson Pinder and assisted by Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell
Studio Sacrilege
Curated by Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell
2014
Jarvis DuBois
Mentor Curator
Gia Harewood
Apprentice Curator
(in)Visible & (dis)Embodied
Curated by Jarvis DuBois and assisted by Gia Harewood
Baggage Claim
Curated by Gia Harewood
2013
Helen C. Fredrick
Mentor Curator
Jessica Pavone
Apprentice Curator
Fear Strikes Back
Curated by Helen C. Fredrick and assisted by Jessica Pavone
Non Serviam
Curated by Jessica Pavone
2012
Ellen Weiss and Sondra Arkin
Mentor Curators
Amanda Jirón-Murphy
Apprentice Curator
Zeitgiest; Too Much Information
Curated by Ellen Weiss and Sondra Arkin and assisted by Amanda Jirón-Murphy
Microscapes
Curated by Amanda Jirón-Murphy
2011
Isabel Manalo
Mentor Curator
Metasebia Yoseph
Apprentice Curator
Recollections
Curated by Isabel Manalo and assisted by Metasebia Yoseph
Organic Plasticity
Curated by Metasebia Yoseph
2010
Trudi Van Dyke
Mentor Curator
Metasebia Yoseph
Apprentice Curator
Abstract Realities
Curated by Trudi Van Dyke and assisted by Pam Rogers
Elements
Curated by Pam Rogers
2009
Laura Roulet
Mentor Curator
Landria Shack
Apprentice Curator
Gift Exchange
Curated by Laura Roulet and assisted by Landria Shack
Poetics of Material
Curated by Landria Shack
2008
James Mahoney
Mentor Curator
Ellen Tani
Apprentice Curator
Astral Bodies
Curated by James Mahoney and assisted by Ellen Tani
Kid Mutiny
Curated by Ellen Tani
2006 - 2007
Margaret Boozer, Suzan Shown Harjo, Clare Huschle, James Mahoney, and Ori Sotles
Mentor Curators
Liz Flyntz, Lisa McCarty, Cara Ober, Anne Surak
Apprentice Curators
Hystoria (2006)
Curated by James Mahoney and assisted by Lisa McCarty
Space of Change (2006)
Curated by Margaret Boozer and Clare Huschle and assisted by Anne Surak
Sea to Shining Sea (2006)
Curated by Ori Sotles and assisted by Cara Ober
American Icons Through Indigenous Eyes (2007)
Curated by Suzan Shown Harjo and assisted by Liz Flyntz
American Idolatry (2007)
Curated by Anne Surak
By Change(2007)
Curated by Lisa McCarty
Jolly Cowboy (2007)
Curated by Cara Ober
Sloganeers (2007)
Cureated by Liz Flyntz