Minerva Projects is an experiment. The fundamental objective is to support interdisciplinary artists who have expressed the desire to analyze their practice in light of historiographical, political, philosophical or spiritual frameworks. This happens in many different ways, depending on the particular needs of the artist. We aim to be responsive and nimble, a plan that is the result of ever-changing work conditions. In order to maintain our vision, we organize public events so that the project series behaves as an interface between artists, experts, and general audiences from many different backgrounds. Inspired by the artist’s practice, we draw on thinkers and writers from related but on the surface seemingly far flung fields to write for the Minerva imprint. The program is organized by conducting an in-depth, intimate, oral interview and publishing a book for each artist. These materials are made accessible to educators, artists, and the general public through one to one distribution channels to those who are curious about the ideas and lives that underpin art. The program is by invitation only.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lori Lucas’s book of poetry, Chiaroscuro, is in its 4th printing and her newest volume, Contrapposto, is in the works. She has taught literature for many years, specializing in Shakespeare Studies and Jewish American Fiction. She is a lover of language and languages. She lives in the Castle House in Boulder when she is not traveling. Lori serves on several boards including the CU Art Museum Advisory Board and the International School of Brussels Foundation Board.

Elysia Solomon is a health care attorney who specializes in digital transformation, technology, privacy and complex regulations and disputes.  Currently she is Chief Counsel of Pharmacy and Health for Albertsons, the second largest grocery conglomerate in the United States, and previously was Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Humana, a Fortune 50 Health and Wellness Company.  Elysia has served on multiple boards, often in leadership roles, including the Executive Committee of the Kentucky College of Art and Design and the Louisville Sierra Club.  Today, in addition to her work with Minerva Projects, she is on the Board of Directors for Illinois Legal Aid Online, is a governing member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the University of Chicago Law School Alumni Council.  Elysia received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago.

Venetia Kapernekus is an independent art consultant and curator of cultural projects dedicated to discovering and guiding the development of creative growth in the art world. She debuted her career in the mid-eighties (after her graduation from UC Berkeley) as assistant director at the Pascal de Sarthe Gallery in San Francisco while completing her MFA in Filmmaking and Visual Studies at San Francisco State University. Upon her return to New York City in 1999, she established the ‘Venetia Kapernekas Gallery Ltd” ‘ in the legendary 526 West 26th street. In 2011-2017 Venetia moved to Munich with her young daughter She became involved in the art communities in both Munich and Berlin and Athens; (Kunstverein München e.V., Haus der Kunst- Gesellschaft der Freunde, Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst, Freunde der Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and International Council Museum Berggruen). Upon her return to NYC, she has been working on creating visibility for independent projects on her platform Venetia Initiatives, launched in June 2019.

Derrick Velasquez is an artist living and working in Denver, Colorado. He is co-founder of Tank Studios and founder of Yes Ma’am Projects, an artist run gallery in the basement of his house focusing on creating opportunities for artists and audiences to connect through dynamic exhibitions. Derrick also serves on the city of Denver’s Commission on Cultural Affairs and as a board member of Tilt West. His recent solo exhibitions have been at the MCA Denver, Robischon Gallery, and the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis.

Theodora Doulamis is an exhibition designer at the Art Gallery of Ontario, a role she previously held at The Detroit Institute of Arts. She holds a Bachelor in Studio Art and Art History from Concordia University in Montreal as well as a Bachelor of Architecture from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. Over the last decade she has worked in the field of exhibition development and design at Storefront for Art and Architecture, The Canadian Centre for Architecture and Americas Society.

Baron Kelly is an internationally recognized critic, historian, practitioner, and scholar. In addition to his long list of acting and directing credits on Broadway, he is a four-time Fulbright Scholar. He has performed  for over thirty regional theatres in the United States including: Yale Rep; Actors Theatre of Louisville; the Guthrie; Mark Taper Forum; and the Oregon, Utah, Dallas Fort Worth, and California Shakespeare Festivals. International credits include: the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain; Stratford Shakespeare Festival; National Theatre of Norway; Yermelova Theatre in Moscow, Russia; and the Edinburgh Theatre Festival. He is a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is now a professor of theatre at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, he serves on the boards of the Comparative Drama Conference, Stanislavsky Institute, and the Fulbright Review Panel.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Claire Barliant is a curator and writer based in Cambridge, MA. Claire has worked as the Curatorial Advisor at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Project Space in New York, associate editor of Artforum and executive editor of Modern Painters. Her writing has appeared in Triple Canopy, Time Out New York, Artforum, Bookforum, Art in America, and Icon, as well as numerous catalogues and for many years she was a regular contributor to the art section of the New Yorker’s “Goings On About Town.” She has held teaching positions, either as adjunct professor, master lecturer, or visiting critic at University of the Arts, Philadelphia, SUNY Purchase, Parsons, the New School, NYU, and Yale. Recent curatorial projects include As We Were Saying: Art and Identity in the Age of ‘Post’ at EFA Project Space, New York, NY (2014), Kool-Aid Wino at Franklin Street Works, Stamford, CT (2013), and a screening series for Dirty Looks: On Location, New York (2013).

Nicole Caruth is the recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, has served as artistic director at The Union for Contemporary Art. Prior to joining the Center, Nicole held positions at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Art21, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum. Nicole’s curatorial projects include, most recently, The Grace Jones Project at the Museum of the African Diaspora; Crossroad: A Social Sculpture by the artist Derrick Adams; and Power of People, Power of Place by Fallen Fruit Collective. Her writing has appeared in ARTnews, C Magazine, Gastronomica, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, Public Art Review, Walker Art Center Magazine, the Phaidon Press volumes Vitamin Green and Vitamin D2, and exhibition catalogues published by Joan Mitchell Foundation and The Studio Museum in Harlem. She is founding editor of Art21 Magazine (est. 2013), an online space for insightful writing on contemporary art and artists. In 2012, Nicole founded With Food in Mind, a nomadic nonprofit developing art-based approaches to childhood obesity and nutrition disparities in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Her extensive writing about food in contemporary has earned her recognition as a leading voice on the subject. She is currently collaborating with the artist Elia Alba on her book, The Supper Club.

Heba Farid is the co-founder of TINTERA in Cairo. She is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural manager based in Cairo since 2000, with a background in architecture and fine arts. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally and she has been active in institutional development and cultural research with a focus on photography as a founder of the Contemporary Image Collective (CiC), based in Cairo, an art center dedicated to the visual image, as the coordinator and initiator of the multidisciplinary art/research project about Na’ima al-Misriyya, an early 20th century performer, and as coordinator of the photographic heritage program at CULTNAT, the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (Bibliotheca Alexandrina). She has participated in and published articles for several regional symposiums on archiving and photographic heritage and curated exhibitions based on the historic photograph collections. She has received several professional training in the preservation and management of photograph collections, and is a MEPPI alumni. She is currently adjunct professor of practice in photography at the Department of the Arts, American University in Cairo (AUC), and is embarking on an entrepreneurial startup venture dedicated to the preservation and activation of photograph collections and visual heritage.

Lyra Kilston is a writer, critic, and editor in Los Angeles. Her writing on art, architecture, and urbanism has been published in books, magazines and websites, and produced as documentary shorts for public television. She has worked for such institutions as the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Colorado), the Performa Biennial (New York), California Institute of the Arts, and the Getty Research Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum (California).

Steven Matijcio is the Executive Director of the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA). Previously he served as director and chief curator of the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, curator at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati,  and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC. Matijcio is a graduate of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College and has held positions in a number of galleries and museums including the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Gallery of Canada. Matijcio was honored in 2010 with a prestigious Tremaine Exhibition Award for the project paperless.

FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Yasmeen Siddiqui is an editor and writer curious about the lives and work of artists. She is co-editor (with Alpesh Kantilal Patel) of Storytellers of Art Histories (Intellect Press, 2022). Her articles and essays have been published by: Studio International, Phaidon, Samsung Museum of Art, Art Papers, Modern Painters, Flash Art, NKA, the Cairo Times, Hyperallergic, iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), the Americas Society, Storefront for Art and Architecture, among others. Yasmeen teaches at Pratt Institute and serves as a board member of Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA). 

Shweta Nandakumar, Project 10 Assistant Editor – is an editor and writer with a Master’s in Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism from The New School for Social Research. She is interested in themes informed by place, identity, diaspora, cultural exchange and preservation, and socially engaged artistic practice.

COLLABORATION

Minerva Projects is committed to building communities and publics dedicated to exploratory thinking, exhibition, and book making. Please reach out through email if interested in collaborating on meaningful projects. director@minervaprojects.org

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Minerva Projects—a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Pine Plains, New York, founded in Denver, Colorado—is an art press focused on images seen through text.