Image Above: “Contemporary Designs”, 2011 by Jacob Dahl Jürgensen. via VVORK.
After nearly a decade at Rhizome, I'll be stepping down as Executive Director on April 15, 2022. It's been an honor to lead this organization as we've grown our ambitions, launched new programs, initiatives, and global partnerships, added new staff, and witnessed new waves of interest and enthusiasm for websites, .pngs, and the myriad other born-digital artifacts and practices that drive our mission.
Taking stock of my time here, I remain in awe of the brilliant colleagues with whom I've had opportunity to work and what we collaboratively achieved. Net Art Anthology, online, at the New Museum, as a book. Webrecorder and Conifer. World on a Wire. An entirely new ArtBase. 7x7s here and abroad. Commissions, events, publishing, and on. I'm most proud that my work as Director enabled these true specialists to achieve so many, so varied milestone projects with significant field impact.
I also remain grateful for Rhizome's community, and the chance I've had to spend time with you all: artists, event goers, Conifer users, ArtBase perusers, and beyond. I've gotten to launch projects by artists at the forefront of our field and to be a part of an audience experiencing their new work, chatting and thinking about it for the first time together. I've so enjoyed making the case for this special organization to supporters, old and new—foundations, government bodies, individuals, our incredible Board of Directors—jointly growing our capacity and broadening our reach. And I remain so thankful for the opportunity to partner with our colleagues at New Museum and to continue to tackle new fields and reach new audiences through our unique affiliation.
Next week, the Executive Search Committee of the Board of Directors will issue a call for applicants for a new Executive Director. During the transition, our experienced senior team—Makayla Bailey, Michael Connor, and Dragan Espenschied—will steward the organization. And in the meantime, Rhizome will have a lot to offer: Tumblr ArtBase accessions, live events and other programs in NYC and abroad, and even a new rhizome.org.
As for me, I'll be joining the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles (where my family has been based since 2020) to help shape the 2024 Pacific Standard Time initiative exploring the intersection of science and art. Among a region-wide collection of exhibitions and public programming tackling this subject from many different angles, there will be much of interest to the Rhizome crowd. I do hope you'll follow what we get up to over in Southern California.
I know I will be following what happens at Rhizome. Supporting its mission as Director has been an irreplicable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As with the field it champions, Rhizome will continue to strengthen and evolve to meet the potential of a born-digital culture. And I'll look forward to watching its story unfold as a member of its community far into its bright future.