Contemporary Arts Museum Names Director Bill Arning

This week the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston announced that Bill Arning, currently curator of the MIT List Visual Arts Center, will succeed Marti Mayo as its next director in April.

In a press release Reggie Smith, Chairman of the CAMH Board of Trustees said:

"Mr. Arning impressed us not only with his experience and scholarship but also with his infectious energy and love of contemporary art. He is an internationally respected art curator and writer whose prior experience as a director satisfies the Museum's long-standing conviction that a successful museum leader possess an understanding of both roles...his track record is one of active involvement with the community--visiting artists' studios, meeting the public, talking with students, collaborating with arts organizations, and engaging the community at large."

Houstonist loves that Arning played in a punk rock band The Student Teachers in the late 70s and he doesn't currently have a driver's license. Apparently he is a Cansei de Ser Sexy fan, or at least he likes to wear their merch. But along with his indie cred Mr. Arning brings some serious experience to the table. With over 20 years in the arts as a writer, director and curator, Arning has been lauded by board members and artists alike. Words like enthusiastic, genuine, down-to-earth and inquisitive are used when describing him. As Reggie Smith says, "You really won't find anyone in the contemporary-art area who knows Bill who has anything other than very, very nice things to say about him". One artist/blogger admitted to intellectually stalking Arning, saying "I love going to hear Bill talk because you can tell he's so excited to talk about artwork that he can barely contain himself. Like a vampire, I feed off of that excitement and it makes me have to go make more of my own work".

Arning is no stranger to Houston, either. He's already made contributions to the Houston art scene as the sole curator for the 2004 Houston Area Show at the Blaffer Gallery. In that role Arning carefully reviewed portfolios and conducted on-site studio visits to select the 14 Houston-area artists featured in the show. He returned to Houston last year as a collaborator for renowned filmmaker Chantal Akerman's Moving Through Space and Time, again at Blaffer. As for his plans for the CAMH, in an interview with the Houston Press Arning describes the different contemporary arts spaces in Houston as an "art ecology" which he intends to "fill what needs are not being met". In particular he wants to expand the live arts offerings of the CAMH to create more interactive experiences. If that leads to events like Steel Lounge, Houstonist can't wait for Arning to get here.

Boston Magazine once called Arning a "cowboy curator of cutting-edge, contemporary art''. Cowboy? Could this guy be a better fit?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user JewelsVu