Ronald T. Labaco will be giving a Brown Bag Lunch presentation on Wednesday, October 29, 2014, from 12 to 1:30pm. His talk is entitled “Out of Hand at the Museum of Arts and Design: The Inside Story.”

Ronald T. Labaco is the Marcia Docter Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. He received his BA in Studio Art from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MA from the Bard Graduate Center. Prior to his current position, Labaco held curatorial positions at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the BGC Gallery. His publications include Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2013) and The Allure of the Automobile: Driving in Style, 1930-1965 (New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2010), which were associated with curatorial projects of his at the Museum of Arts and Design and the High Museum of Art, respectively. Labaco is currently working on two upcoming exhibitions for the Museum of Arts and Design: Wendell Castle Remastered(2015) and Perfect Timing: 21st Century Fine Watchmaking (2015).

In his talk at the BGC, Labaco will present Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital as a case study of the challenges that come with organizing a contemporary museum exhibition. Every art institution has its own culture within which its curators need to navigate, working closely with other departments including exhibitions, registrarial, education, development, press relations, and facilities, as well as senior staff. What role does technological innovation play in the mission of an institution formerly known as the American Craft Museum and founded as the Museum of Contemporary Crafts? This candid curatorial perspective will illuminate some of the real concerns that face today’s museum professional that are not taught but rather learned largely through on-the-job experience, such as working with lenders and living artists, space and installation considerations, and addressing the needs of the institution’s different constituencies.

Coffee and tea will be served; attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch.

RSVP is required.