Scottsdale Arts Reveals Ceci Moss as New SMoCA director
Moss is a curator, writer and educator with 20 years of professional practice organizing solo, group, touring and online exhibitions.
Ceci Moss, Ph.D., will start on July 14 as the new director and chief curator for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), operated by the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts.
Moss is a curator, writer and educator with 20 years of professional practice organizing solo, group, touring and online exhibitions — as well as public programs, performances and screenings — in museums, galleries and artist-run spaces. She most recently served as the director and chief curator of the Mandeville Art Gallery at the University of California, San Diego.
“We are excited to have Dr. Moss lead the small-but-mighty SMoCA team into the future,” said Scottsdale Arts President and CEO Gerd Wuestemann, Ph.D. “Coming into this role with an excellent educational and curatorial background and experience in both independent arts center and academic settings, this is a great next step in her career path.”
Mandeville Art Gallery is a non-collecting institute for contemporary art with a five-decade history of presenting innovative exhibitions in the context of a major research university. While leading that museum, Moss also held a dual appointment as a professor of practice in UC San Diego’s Department of Visual Arts, where she taught courses in museum and curatorial studies. She has a master of arts and a doctorate in comparative literature from New York University and a bachelor of arts in history and sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Moss’ past positions also include founding director of Gas (Los Angeles), assistant curator of visual arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, senior editor of the art and technology nonprofit arts organization Rhizome (New York City) and special projects coordinator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York City). Her position at the multidisciplinary Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) provided experience in working for an organization like Scottsdale Arts, which operates Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, Canal Convergence and Civic Center LIVE, in addition to SMoCA.
“Multidisciplinary arts organizations like Scottsdale Arts, and my former institution YBCA, bring together artists across various practices — such as visual arts, music, dance, theater, film and public art — in a way that simply would not occur in more traditional, siloed institutions,” Moss said. “I look forward to working within this structure, which I believe advances unique cross-disciplinary experimentation and creative dialogue.”
Moss said she views museums as “living, active spaces that invite audiences to connect more meaningfully with themselves, their communities and the world.” Her experience as a community-oriented educator with 14 years in higher education for the arts informs Moss’ plans to foster community engagement and regional appreciation through inclusive educational practices, strong local partnerships and a commitment to embedding learning as a core value within the SMoCA’s organizational culture.
Though her curatorial and academic portfolio is diverse, Moss’ past work often delved into technology’s influence on culture and art. That focus will carry through to her new position at SMoCA.
“I plan to integrate technology and innovation into the museum’s multidisciplinary focus on contemporary art, architecture and design while continuing to build on SMoCA’s reputation as a platform for high-profile exhibitions by emerging artists at pivotal moments in their careers,” Moss said.
Wuestemann noted the significance of timing in hiring Moss to lead SMoCA, which has the distinction of being accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Not only is SMoCA now beginning the process of reaccreditation, Wuestemann is also looking toward future museum expansions.
“During the extensive national search, we got to know Dr. Moss as a passionate arts advocate with a sense of humor, an excellent curator with an eye for what’s next and a scrappy nonprofit ambassador who can do a lot with limited resources,” Wuestemann said. “We found the right candidate to propel us forward.”
SMoCA — named “Best Art Museum” in the Best of Phoenix awards — is located at 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. It is open Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Admission is $13–$16 for non-members; $10–$13 for students, seniors (65+) and veterans; and free for Scottsdale Arts ONE Members, healthcare workers, first responders, and patrons 18 and younger. Admission to the museum is pay-what-you-wish every Thursday and every second Saturday of the month. Find more information and purchase admission online at SMoCA.org.
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