The Coleman Center for the Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce Alabama native Jackie Clay as the organization’s new Executive Director. Clay begins her new role in January of 2017. Always an Alabamian at heart, Clay is a writer, curator, arts administrator, and an alumni of Alabama School of Fine Arts who worked previously at the Birmingham Museum of Arts.
Clay recently moved to York from Oakland CA, and says, “I am excited to return home. The Coleman Center helped shape many of my ideas around curatorial work, particularly creative, community-centered visual art practice. I look forward to continuing the CCA’s beloved and rigorous program while folding in some of my strengths – film and video, events, and performance work.”
Former Co-Director Shana Berger says of Clay’s arrival, “I am overjoyed that Jackie has accepted the Executive Director position, and I look forward to seeing the CCA continue to grow and prosper under her leadership. [Fellow Co-Director] Nathan [Purath] and I enjoyed a beautiful partnership with the community and Board of Directors that fueled our creative work for many years. We’re excited to see that energy continue to unfold in new and exciting ways.”
Most recently Clay lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and worked as the Special Projects Manager at The Lab, San Francisco and Communications Manager at Daily Serving | Art Practical. Her latest projects include The Zz Show with The Rocca Family (artists and curators Ola El-Khalidi and Diala Khasawnih), Red, Bike and Green’s 11 Miles of Blackness, and See, America? 2016 Election Screening. She holds Master’s degrees from California College of the Arts in Curatorial Practice and Visual and Critical Studies.
