Senior Editor Changing of the Guard: Farewell, Ceci, Hello, Joanne!

Dear readers, artists and friends of Rhizome,

As some of you may know, our senior editor Ceci Moss is stepping down at the end of this month to devote herself to finishing her PhD. It’s bittersweet to see Ceci go. In her time here, she has brought a tremendous amount to the organization, from intelligent reviews, to a forward-thinking and dynamic editorial program, to true Californian good vibes that have permeated our east coast office culture. Ceci is a true champion of experimental art and emerging artists; this is evidenced in the incredible breadth of her editorial coverage, and her openness to and encouragement of young artists and nascent forms of sound, media and performance. As Senior Editor, she built up an excellent stable of critics for Rhizome and mentored a range of curatorial fellows. She also demonstrated what an awesome team player she is by doing things like tending bar at Rhizome parties, folding & stamping during 5-hour long mailings, contributing strategy and support on all levels of programming and handling all the other tasks--small and large--that keep the wheels of a non-profit turning and have helped Rhizome grow in recent years. Ceci is a stellar colleague, and she will be missed. She will continue writing for Rhizome after she leaves in May. We all wish her the best in her career transition.

It's my great pleasure to welcome Joanne McNeil in to the post of Senior Editor! Joanne is a renowned writer and editor, whose expertise lies at the intersection of contemporary art and technology. She has 10 years blogging experience, most notably for her website, the Tomorrow Museum, which has received wide and varied praise, like “Best Source for Making Sense of it All” in the Morning News end-of-year round-up of best sites. Joanne is a contributing writer to Time magazine's Techland blog and has written for diverse sources including the Boston Globe and Reason Magazine, with forthcoming work for N+1 and Frieze. She first made fans out of the Rhizome staff for the incredibly insightful and provocative writing published through the Tomorrow Museum on subjects including J.G Ballard, Nam June Paik, the Future (and how its depiction has changed), alongside rich essays on a number of current events and developments in art and culture. We are thrilled to welcome Joanne to the organization, and to see how she will lead the editorial program here. She will begin on May 2, 2011.