Nick Stillman Named Executive Director of Prospect New Orleans
The board of trustees of Prospect New Orleans announced today that Nick Stillman, the current president and CEO of the Arts Council of New Orleans, will be the organization’s new executive director. “This is a unique opportunity to merge my background in contemporary art with my executive and financial experience at the Arts Council,” Stillman said. “I’m excited to begin working with Prospect’s staff, board, and artistic director to situate artist projects in public and private space, build trust and relationships locally, and approach all initiatives with a collaborative spirit.” He will take up the post on April 2.
Prior to joining the Arts Council, Stillman was a visiting critic of modern and contemporary art at the University of New Orleans and the managing editor of Bomb magazine in New York. Between 2006 and 2007, Stillman curated eight exhibitions at MoMA PS1 in New York, including the debut museum solo shows of Kalup Linzy, Amy Granat, and Joe Bradley. He has also written extensively for several publications, including Artforum, Flash Art, and Modern Painters.
In addition to Stillman’s appointment, Prospect New Orleans also revealed that Susan G. Brennan will step down as president and chair of its board of trustees, after ten years of service. She will be succeeded by Christopher J. Alfieri, who has served on the board since the organization’s founding in 2007. Other changes in leadership include Allison Kendrick’s appointment as board treasurer.
Commenting on the organization’s new directorship, Alfieri said, “Nick brings to Prospect a depth of experience in arts administration matched with a strong background in contemporary art curation and critical writing . . . We appreciate his commitment to New Orleans and look forward to working with him to fulfill Prospect’s mission of showing the best work of diverse international artists in unique and culturally exceptional venues throughout the city.”
The fourth edition of Prospect’s citywide triennial of contemporary art, led by artistic director Trevor Schoonmaker, the chief curator of Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art, will come to a close on February 25, at which time Prospect New Orleans will announce the artistic director for Prospect.5, scheduled to take place in the fall of 2020.