FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adam Kubota, Press & Marketing Coordinator
860-685-2806 akubota@wesleyan.edu
Photos available on request
Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts Announces the
Institute for Curatorial Practice in
Performance (ICPP)
--
Nine-Month Certificate Program for Presenters, Artists, Curators and
Managers Blends Curatorial Practices from the Visual and Performing
Arts

Middletown, Conn., September 20, 2010— Wesleyan University’s Center
for the Arts (CFA) has launched the Institute for Curatorial Practice in
Performance (ICPP), which brings arts professionals together to examine
curatorial practices from the fields of visual arts and performance, in order to
better understand and improve upon the ways in which performance is
managed, produced and presented in this country.

Professional Certificate Program
Starting in summer 2011, the ICPP will offer a professional certificate
program in Curatorial Practice in Performance. Students will study artistic
and curatorial practice, social and cultural context, and entrepreneurial
strategies and complete an independent project in consultation with an
advisor.

Through a close examination of the practical and theoretical concerns of
performance work, graduates of the ICPP certificate program will deepen
their knowledge and skill base, enhance their professional relationships, and
become better advocates for performance in the marketplace.

The certificate is a low-residency, nine-month program intended for early
and mid-career working professionals. Students will complete work online
in between on-campus intensives at Wesleyan University. Dates for the
2011–12 on-campus intensives are: July 9–24, 2011, November 18–20,
2011, and March 3–5, 2012.

Instructors and guest lecturers include ICPP Director Samuel A. Miller,
Wesleyan professors Katja Kolcio and Claudia Tatinge Nacimento, and field
professionals Doryun Chong of MOMA, Philip Bither of the Walker Art
Center, and Judy Hussie-Taylor of Danspace Project. Artists in residence are
TBA.

Applications for 2011-12 are due on February 1, 2011.

Responding to Contemporary Performance Practice
The ICPP was founded in 2010 by Wesleyan graduates Samuel A. Miller
and Pamela Tatge (Director of the CFA) in partnership with Judy Hussie-
Taylor (Executive Director of Danspace Project) in response to the dynamic
dialog surrounding idea- and technique-based performance practice in the
performing arts field.

The ICPP aims to understand how performance can function within multiple
landscapes, by building new models for understanding contemporary
performance practice. The ICPP will serve as a meeting-point for academics,
professionals, and students to share ideas and resources in both formal and
informal ways. By creating a rigorous and creative learning environment,
enhanced and energized by the outside activities of its students and
instructors, the ICPP will provide students and instructors with a base for
their future professional endeavors.

Filling a Gap
Currently there is no post-graduate program in the United States that is
dedicated to addressing curatorial practice in performance. The ICPP looks
to fill this gap, as an interest in contemporary performance continues to
thrive even as the recent economic recession has hit arts organizations
particularly hard. The ICPP is committed to training performing arts
professionals who will build on the momentum of contemporary
performance by using new information and resources as creatively as
possible, while also understanding how historical practices have shaped our
current trajectory.

For more information about the ICPP, visit www.wesleyan.edu/icpp or
contact Program Coordinator David Milch at 860-888-3606 or
icpp@wesleyan.edu.