SculptureCenter, the bold institution in Long Island City, Queens, that focuses on contemporary works by emerging and undervalued artists, has named a new director. To fill the shoes of its last leader, who resigned in September 2020 after less than a year, it has tapped one of its own: Sohrab Mohebbi, a curator at large.
Mohebbi, 41, ascends to the top role at SculptureCenter after having been at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, organizing the Carnegie International, since June 2020. He had previously been a curator at SculptureCenter from 2018 to 2020 and has continued to work as a curator at large there concurrently with his post in Pittsburgh.
“He brings an energy, perspective and deep understanding of global cultural movements,” Carol Bove, SculptureCenter’s board chair, said of Mohebbi. His new role was announced on Tuesday.
Kyle Dancewicz, who has acted as SculptureCenter’s interim director since September 2020, will serve as deputy director under Mohebbi.
“As a director, it’s thinking about how we can run the institution curatorially, how we can be at the service of the artists,” Mohebbi said in a phone interview. “That’s what turns it into a dream job for me.”
Mohebbi will assume his new SculptureCenter role in March, and see through the Carnegie International, which opens in September.
SculptureCenter’s previous director, Christian Rattemeyer, stepped down after 10 months in the role. (A spokeswoman for SculptureCenter, Jillian Scott, said this week that at the time, the institution’s board had “decided to realign its management to better achieve their mission.”)
Another arts institution in Long Island City also named a new leader this week: Socrates Sculpture Park appointed Tamsin Dillon, previously with Art in Public, to the post. She begins her new role on Feb. 22.
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