LTC 226-2008 Appointment of new Bass Museum Director~~r~~1~~~~;t
m M l AM I B EAC H 2008 SEP 12 a~ 10:09
CITY CL~?~fi'S i?Y r !"
i1 t_
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 226-2ooa LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Co ~ssion
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: September 11, 2008
SUBJECT: Appointment of new Bass Museum Director
This Letter to Commission is intended to provide you with a status update on the Bass Museum
Executive Director vacancy. After a lengthy national executive search process, on Friday, September 5,
2008, the Board of Trustees of the Bass Museum of Art unanimously appointed Silvia Karman Cubing
as Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Bass Museum of Art, effective October 1, 2008.
Ms. Cubing is the Founding Director of The Moore Space (since 2002), an internationally- recognized
contemporary art exhibition space in Miami founded by collectors Rosa de la Cruz and Craig Robins.
Prior to managing The Moore Space, Ms. Cubing served as an independent Curator, and held the
position of Adjunct Curator at inova, the Institute of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Previously, she also held positions at The Mexican Museum in San Francisco and the Cuban Museum
of Art in Miami.
At The Moore Space, she organized exhibition projects with artists such as: Allora & Calzadlla; Carlos
Amorales; John Bock; Sean Dack; Jeppe Hein; Tracey + The Plastics; Jonathan Monk; Aida Ruilova;
Hernan Bas; Jim Lambie; Patty Chang; Joan Jonas; Yang Fudong; and organized numerous group
exhibitions, as well. In 2007, Ms. Cubing presented the landmark exhibition French Kissing in the USA,
a group of works by emerging French artists. Independently, Ms. Cubing has worked on exhibitions
such as None of the Above: Contemporary Work by Puerto Rican Artists at Real Art Ways, Hartford,
CT; Landmark/Allora & Calzadilla at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas in San Juan; Quisqueya Henriquez;
Habitat en TransitoiPinones (In- Situ), Javier Cambre's project for the 2002 Bienal Exhibition of the
Whitney Museum of American Art; Pepon Osorio: Door to Door at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San
Juan; Arte del Nuevo Medio: Doce Propuestas Electronicas at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de
Puerto Rico; and she was the Puerto Rico commissioner to the 1997 Bienal de Sao Paolo.
Ms. Cubing has lectured extensively internationally, and has participated in numerous grant panels and
award selection committees, including as juror to the Guggenheim Museum's prestigious Hugo Boss
Award. In 2007, she was a finalist for the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement, and was
one of only ten fellows at the Center for Curatorial Leadership program in New York, awell-respected
training program for emerging museum curators.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Gary Farmer, our Cultural Affairs Manager, for having
spent the past year pulling double duty as the Acting Administrator for the Museum, while managing our
cultural arts grants programs, and assisting with the organization of citywide arts programming, such as
Arts in the Park and Sleepless Night.
JMG/hmf
F:lcmgrl$ALL1HiIdalTourism and Cultural DevelopmentlCulturel6asslCubina appt Itc.doc
Silvia Karman Cubina
Curriculum Vitae
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2002-Present The Moore Space, Miami, Founding Director and Curator
The Moore Space is a 10,000 sq ft, 501 c3 not for profit art space with ayear-round public
program of exhibitions, education activities and artists' residencies. Responsibilities
include: fundraising; financial management; board development; curatorial; extensive
community outreach; international exchanges and collaborations; press relations; created
educational program; established all administrative and programmatic systems: financial,
legal, accounting and procedural.
In six years tenure, 33 exhibitions have been presented, 31 of which were originated by
the space; and 17 publications have been produced. Four exhibitions have traveled
internationally.
Center for Curatorial Leadership, 1 of 10 fellows
Nationally competitive museum administration program, founded by arts patron Agnes
Gund, in New York, in collaboration with Columbia University Graduate School of
Business, UCLA Marshall School of Business; www.ccl.org
2001-2003 Institute of Visual Arts/University of Wisconsin, (inova) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Adjunct
Curator
1998-2001 Independent Curator, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995-1998 Galeria Raices, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Director
1992-1995 Silvia Karman. Fine Art, San Juan, Art Consultant: assisted corporations in the
development of policies for art programs and collections, installation design, appraisals
and general art consultation.
1990-1992 The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA., Development Director
Raised institutional budget of $1,200,000 through government and foundation grant
solicitation, membership program and individuals. Key participant in NEA Advancement
program long range plan
1987-1989 Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, FL. Administrative Assistant.
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
2007
French Kissin' in the USA, exhibition on emerging French artists, The Moore Space
2006
Clamor, Allora & Calzadilla, The Moore Space, Miami in collaboration with The Renaissance Society at the
University of Chicago and the San Francisco Art Institute, Walter and McKean Galleries.
Metro Pictures, Part 7 and 2, The Moore Space and the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA).
Catalogue.
2003-2006
The Moore Space exhibition program, numerous exhibition projects including: Distance by Jeppe Hein,
Florida Calling... by Jonathan Monk, Bozidar Brazda, Countdowns by Aida Ruilova, e-flux video rental,
Paradise Garage by Jim Lambie; Pattern Playback; Surveillance; Patty Chang/ Tracey Emin/ Naomi Fisher/
Paul McCarthy; and others. New performances commissioned: Fan Dance by Patty Chang; Crossed Waves:
After a Long Train Ride by Joan Jonas; and ROOM, by Tracy + the Plastics and Fawn Krieger.
2004-2005
Hernan Bas, The Moore Space, December 2004-March 2005. Catalogue.
None of the Above-Contemporary Work by Puerto Rican Artists, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, co-curated with
Steven Holmes and Deborah Cullen, May 2004. This exhibition traveled to Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico,
San Juan from January-August 2005.
Quirky, Odd and Out of Sorts, MACLA, San Jose, CA, March 2004
2003
Allora & Calzadilla, Landmark, asite-specific installation at Escuela de Artes Plasticas, San Juan, Puerto
Rico. This project traveled to the Tate Modern and was included in Commonwealth exhibition.
2002
Interplay, The Moore Space, co-curated with Patrick Charpenel
Habitat en Transito/Pinones (!n-Situ), Loiza, Puerto Rico, by Javier Cambre for the 2002 Biennial Exhibition of
The Whitney Museum of American Art. Consulting Curator. Publication
2002 ARCO, Madrid, Spain, inova Project Room, artist: Aaron Salabarrias, co-curated with Peter
Doroshenko.
2001
ArtMiami, Miami, Curator, Project Room, artist: Anthony Goicolea. Publication
2000
Pepdn Osorio: Door to Door, September 2000-February 2001, Curator and Project Director. Collaborative
multi-site exhibition project including the Escuela de Artes Pl~sticas, the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, the
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico and the Museo de San Juan. Included an artist residency, a
symposium and educational programs and publication.
1999
Arte de! Nuevo Medio: Dote Propuestas Electrbnicas, Museo de Arte Contempor~neo de Puerto Rico
Publication
1998
Interiores/Exteriores: Annex Burgos, Museo de las Americas and Galeria Races, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Curator. Publication
1997
Sylvia Benitez, Llneas para Abuelo, (Lines for Grandfather), Museo de Arte, Historic y Arquelogia de la
Universidad de Puerto Rico, asite-specific installation, and A Lexicon For Elsie, Galeria Raices. Curator.
A.I.C.A. Award for Installation of the Year, 1997. Publication
Los Cuatro Elementos de la Anfiguedad, Ndstor Otero, 23~d Bienal International de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Commissioner, Puerto Rico. Publication
SELECTED ESSAYS AND PUBLICATIONS:
French Kissin' in the USA, exhibition catalogue, 2007
Quisqueya Henriquez, Arte al Dia, May 2007
Uncanny Realities, Anthony Goicolea, Arte al Dia, July 2006
Allora & Ca/zadilla's Floors, ArtNexus, December 2004
Hernan Bas, The Moore Space, December 2004
Patty Chang/Tracey Emin/Naomi Fisher/Paul McCarthy, The Moore Space, March 2003
Interplay, The Moore Space, November 2002
Habitat en Tr~nsito/Pinones, self-published, March 2002
Pepbn Osorio, artist entry for 2002 Lima Biennial catalogue, Peru
Pepfin Osorio: Door to Door, introduction, EAP Press, January 2002
Curador-artists-curandero, essay for exhibition catalogue, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, 2001
SELECTED CONFERENCES AND LECTURES'
"2006: Generacion Sampling'; Centro de Arte Eduardo Leon Jimenes, Santiago, Rep. Dominicana, July 2006
A Conversation with Aida Ruilova, Miami Art Central, September 2005
A Conversation with Dara Friedman, June 2003
Summer Curators Conference, Berkeley Art Museum, July 2002; Bates College, Maine, 2004; MCA Chicago,
2006; and the High Museum, Atlanta
Curatorial Practices in the Caribbean, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. March 2002.
Institutions and the Arts, Bienal de la Republica Dominicana, November, 2001. Moderator/panelist
Curador/Curado, Role of the Curator in the Caribbean, Museo de Arte Moderno, Republica Dominicana,
September 2001
ArtMiami, Curators Choice Panel, February 2001
A Conversation with PepcSn Osorio, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, September 2002.
Pepon Osorio: Door to Door, the exhibition, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, September 2000
Home Visits, a work by Pepon Osorio, Museo de San Juan and other locations, September 2000
Center and Periphery Revised: Curators Speak, San Juan, October 2000
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2008 Fellow, Center for Curatorial Leadership, New York (in collaboration with Columbia Business School,
New York and UCLA Marshall School of Business, Los Angeles)
2006 Finalist, Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Excellence, De Menil Collection, Houston
2005 Etant donnes: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, Curatorial Research Grant
SELECTED PANELS AND JURIES:
2007 Lyon d'Or, 2007 Biennale de Lyon, Juror
2006 Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, Juror
2006 Centro de Arte Eduardo Leon Jimenes, National Art Contest, Juror.
2005 Bienal de Artes Visuales, BIENARTE, San Jose, Costa Rica, Juror.
2005 Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Optic Nerve, Juror.
2003 The Pew Charitable Trusts, Arts Panel, Juror.
2003 and 2001 National Endowment for the Arts, Museum Program panelist
1991-1992 The Arts Project, Community Partnership Grants Committee, San Francisco, CA.
1991 Arts Council of Santa Clara County, Santa Clara, CA., Juror.
1991 City of San Jose Cultural Affairs Council, San Jose, CA, Juror.
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, B.A., Art History, 1983-1987
LANGUAGES:
Fluent in English, Spanish and French