Alabama Contemporary Reveals Exciting Transitions for 2020

January 9, 2020,

New Leadership, Enhanced Vision and Positive Growth

MOBILE, AL. January 9, 2020 – Following a banner year, Alabama Contemporary Art Center has cultivated a new organizational design to strengthen their focus on serving the local community in the most dynamic and successful manner. Starting January 1, elizabet elliott, former Director of Exhibitions and Programs, transitioned into the role of Executive Director.

Following programming and exhibition changes made in response to community feedback in 2019, an internal audit was performed to assess the structure needed to support these adjustments. This process entailed an in-depth analysis of staff goals related to overall structure. Alabama Contemporary believes that in order to support artistic passion within the community, staff need to be in positions that complement their fine-tuned skillsets while generating drive and stoking the fires of their own creative sentiment. Keeping the priority of organizational wellbeing and growth top-of-mind, the resulting updated staff-structure was unanimously and excitedly agreed upon:

Elizabet Elliott, Executive Director/ Curator
Angie Yankle, Director of Finance and Operations
Allison Skoda, Curator of Programs
Amanda Solley, Curator of Education
Amber Guy, Visitor Services Coordinator

These changes are proof of Alabama Contemporary’s commitment to their mission of acting as a cultural broker, convener and public forum for the arts in this region. Elliott states, “We have a ride-or-die staff that is fully invested in the health and success of Alabama Contemporary. Our highest purpose is to listen to our community and create space for meaningful work. I consider myself lucky to be a part of this team and excited to serve Mobile.”

Following the successes of 2019, including receiving a $100,000 grant from the esteemed Andy Warhol Foundation, altering the physical space, the quality and relevance of programming to better match the immediate community’s needs, expanding the curatorial process through three new programs and implementing W.A.G.E standards for compensating artists and curators fairly, 2020 looks to be a breakthrough year for Alabama Contemporary. They will focus on inspiring growth for the local creative economy, providing amplification for artists’ voices to be heard beyond the region, supporting socially conscious, relevant projects, providing a venue to the kind of work that doesn’t have a home in commercial spaces, setting a regional precedent for valuing creative labor and upholding the belief that everyone deserves to live their best lives.

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