GW Culture Buffs: "Dirty South" 2021 VMFA Exhibit
Location
Online via Zoom
Event Description
Join us for an exclusive GW Culture Buffs event featuring GW alumnus, Alex Nyerges, CCAS BA '79, MA '82, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) and Paul Rucker, William Wilson Corcoran visiting professor of community engagement at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. They will discuss Paul’s upcoming 2021 VMFA exhibit, the “Dirty South,” performative activism, and publicly highlighting resilience in the black culture.
For the last fiften years, Alex Nyerges has led VMFA, one of the nation's top 10 comprehensive
art museums. Alex, who has nearly 40 years of experience as an art museum director, came to VMFA from the Dayton Art Institute, where he was director and CEO from 1992 to 2006. Among his many achievements, he was honored by the Richmond Times-Dispatch as a top-10 Person of the Year in 2015 for increasing the attendance and accessibility of VMFA. As Director of VMFA, Alex has been responsible for many exciting and far-reaching strategic initiatives that have transformed the institution, making it more accessible, diverse, and inclusive.
Paul Rucker is a visual artist, composer, and musician and his work is the product of a rich 
interactive process, through which he investigates community impacts, human rights issues, historical research and basic human emotions surrounding a particular subject matter. He is currently an iCubed Arts Research Fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA and curator for Creative Collaboration for VCUArts. Paul has presented performances and visual art exhibitions across the country and has collaborated with educational institutions to address the issue of mass incarceration. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his work including a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2018 TED Fellowship, the 2018 Arts Innovator Award from the Dale and Leslie Chihuly Foundation and Artist Trust, a 2020 TED Senior Fellowship and a 2020 Art for Justice Fund Fellowship.