ABOUT

I am an independent curator based in central North Carolina, and the Curator/ Director of the Smith Gallery at Appalachian State University.  From 2013 to 2015 I was the Program Curator at Elsewhere Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina-- a living museum, ever changing three-floor art installation, and artist-residency program.  As a curator and art historian,  I am particularly dedicated to socially engaged curation, collaborative processes of art production, issues of sustainability, and situation driven aesthetics. Recent projects include a community art parade, High Country Spring Procession with artist Ed Woodham, for the Smith Gallery.  And with Elsewhere: Southern Constellations, Museum as Instrument, South Elm Projects, and Pancake Social. I completed PhD coursework in Art History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011.

My interests center around the ways that art and its objects embody thought and produce connections between people in communities. I collaborate with and respond to artists through dialog, event production and writing. I particularly enjoy shaping the social spaces where ideas are shared through art. My projects take form through exhibitions and artist residencies, parties, platforms, systems creation and schools. 

Contact: jkcarlis@gmail.com

CV Here

Portfolio of Selected Projects