Locust Projects Announces Lorie Mertes as Executive Director

Locust Projects Announces Lorie Mertes as Executive Director Mertes will Lead Miami’s Premiere Non-Profit Alternative Art Space into its 20th Year.

Photo: Kevin Allen MIAMI—May 1, 2017—Locust Projects is pleased to announce the appointment of Lorie Mertes as Executive Director. She will officially assume the position on May 5. Most recently the Director of Public Programs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., Mertes brings over twenty years of arts administration experience to this position. Mertes’ appointment comes at a seminal time for the not-for-profit arts organization, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2018. She will bring a lauded track record of success in curating, public programming, fundraising, and outreach capacities across a variety of institutions, including the position of Assistant Director for Special Projects and Curator at the Miami Art Museum (now Pérez Art Museum Miami). “We’re thrilled to welcome Lorie back to Miami, and into this role. Locust Projects has grown exponentially over the years, both in operations and in influence, so we’re excited to entrust the future success of the space to such a qualified figure in the arts,” says Locust Projects Board of Directors Chair Debra Scholl. Throughout her career, Mertes has specialized in developing unique approaches to fostering community engagement with artistic production and creative growth within arts institutions. “Lorie’s ingenuity and ambition will prove invaluable at a time when Locust Projects celebrates two decades of programming and looks towards implementing a strategic planning process to map our path for the years to come,” says Scholl. Locust Projects was founded in 1998 by a trio of Miami-based artists: Elizabeth Withstandley, Westen Charles, and COOPER. It was among the first of pioneers to open in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood. In 2000, Locust Projects incorporated and organized its first Board of Directors. In 2006, a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts allowed the organization to hire its first full-time Executive Director and later supported the relocation of Locust Projects to Miami's Design District in May 2009 where it has continued to develop a program dedicated to supporting artists at critical stages in their careers. Since 1998, Locust Projects has presented over 150 exhibitions featuring over 400 artists. “Over the last ten years, Miami’s vibrant arts and culture offerings have become a defining part of the city’s identity. Locust Projects, with its artist-centric mission, is a foundational part of what makes Miami’s art scene so engaging and dynamic,” says Mertes. “I’m beyond excited to come back to a city I adore to guide a much-beloved and significant arts organization to the next level. Working with board and staff, I plan to develop and implement new programs and projects that further amplify Locust’s role as a hub of creative expression, connectivity, and experimentation—locally and nationally.” Mertes will replace Chana Budgazad Sheldon, who is stepping down at the end of April. “It has always been about the artists for me, allowing them to stay true to their visions, no matter how extraordinary. It’s been a dream job, but after eight wonderful years, it is time to move on to new opportunities,” says Sheldon. Concerning Sheldon’s departure, Debra Scholl says, “We thank Chana for her eight years of service. Locust has grown into an internationally renowned exhibition space during her tenure.” Mertes will begin her tenure overseeing Locust’s critically acclaimed exhibition program, as well as annual programs such as Locust Art Builders (LAB), which provides artist-led instruction and resources to Miami-Dade high school students in a series of classes which culminate in a large-scale collaborative exhibition and Locust Talks, a lecture series that hosts visiting directors and curators from innovative institutions across the country and internationally for public lectures followed by one-on-one studio visits with local artists. Leading up to the space’s 20th anniversary in 2018, this fall Locust Projects will unveil Withervanes, a Knight Foundation-funded project by Detroit-based duo Cezanne Charles and John Marshall. Installed in various locations on rooftops in Miami, several four-foot tall headless chickens will serve as “early worrying systems” as they monitor newsfeeds on the internet. Alarmist news —from violence to economic crises and natural disasters—will have these 21st century weathervanes changing direction and color away from the geographic origin of the bad news capturing the “climate of fear” propagated by the media. About Lorie Mertes Lorie Mertes has more than twenty years of experience in arts administration, curatorial, fundraising, education, communications, publications, community outreach, audience engagement, strategic and long-range planning, and public programming. Most recently, she was Director of Public Programs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C. she was Interim Director of Programs at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, NC where she oversaw the residency and exhibition programs. From 2007 to 2011, she was the Director and Chief Curator of The Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, the first and only visual arts college for women in the United States. She was the assistant director and curator at the Miami Art Museum, now Pérez Art Museum of Miami, where, in addition to serving as a curator from 1994 to 2006, she was a senior manager responsible for new programs, publications, and outreach initiatives to increase visibility and engage new audiences. As a curator of contemporary art, she has presented more than two-hundred solo and thematic group exhibitions of established and emerging artists including: Janine Antoni, Mel Chin, Leonardo Drew, Dara Friedman, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ann Hamilton, Jim Hodges, Ryan Humphrey, Alfredo Jaar, Vik Muniz, Óscar Muñoz, Alice Neel, Paul Pfeiffer, Miguel Angel Rios, James Rosenquist, Shahzia Sikander, Regina Silveira, Lorna Simpson, and Bill Viola, to name a few.Included among these are special projects such as Vik Muniz’s Cloud Cloud (2006) skywriting project over the skies of Miami and Ann Hamilton’s mantle (1998), consisting of 40,000 fresh cuts flowers on a 48-foot long table, short-wave radio transmissions, and a live attendant sewing together wool coats. Mertes got her start in the art world as the Gallery Manager of Jason Rubell Gallery in Palm Beach and moved to Miami in 1993 when the gallery opened a space at 700 Lincoln Road. During her time in Miami she was one of the original advisory board members of Locust Projects and from 2003 to 2005 served as a board member of Coconut Grove Cares, a program for underserved children of West Coconut Grove. The Dade Cultural Alliance named her as the winner of its 2006 Unsung Hero Award for her demonstration of long term support, unique partnership and meaningful support of the cultural community over a long period of time. About Locust Projects Locust Projects is a not for profit exhibition space dedicated to providing contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas without the pressures of gallery sales or limitations of conventional exhibition spaces. Local, national, and international artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations as an extension of their representative work. Locust Projects supports the local community through educational initiatives and programming that are free and open to the public. Locust Projects 3852 North Miami Avenue Miami, Florida 33127 Telephone: 305.576.8570 Email: info@locustprojects.org