By Locust Projects

2013 marks Locust Projects’ 15th Anniversary as an experimental exhibition space with a mission to serve artists and the community. To mark this milestone we will inaugurate Locust Talks, a new lecture series that brings visiting curators and directors from innovative institutions across the country and internationally. Each art professional will give a public lecture at our gallery space in Miami’s Design District, followed by individual studio visits with local artists. Curators and directors from diverse institutions across the country will talk about topics impacting artists and their communities, fostering a rigorous critical dialogue and deepening Miami’s connection to the contemporary art world.

The program launched in January of 2013 with Anne Pasternak, President and Artistic Director, Creative Time, New York. The second lecture in April featured Lauri Firstenberg, Director and Chief Curator of LAXART. Locust Talks will continue through 2015 with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

ABOUT FAIRFAX DORN: Fairfax Dorn is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Ballroom Marfa, a non-profit cultural art space dedicated to exploring varied perspectives and issues through the visual arts, film music and performance. Since 2003, Fairfax has been responsible for the artistic and programmatic vision of Ballroom Marfa and developing the future Drive-In. She is also the Co-Founder of the Marfa Dialogues, an inclusive public forum which utilizes art to address the pressing issues of our time. In addition to her directorship of Ballroom Marfa, Fairfax served as Guest Curator and Interim Program Director for the Linda Pace Foundation. Fairfax is currently a board member for Judd Foundation, New York, NY and Marfa, TX; Triple Canopy, Brooklyn, NY; Bunker259, Brooklyn, NY and the Centre Pompidou Foundation, Los Angeles, CA. Prior to Ballroom Marfa, she worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Exit Art in New York.  Fairfax along with Virginia Lebermann received ArtTable’s 25th Future Women Leadership Award in April of 2005. She received both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Art of Studio Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

ABOUT BALLROOM MARFA: Founded in 2003 by Virginia Lebermann and Fairfax Dorn, Ballroom Marfa is a center for the public exploration of contemporary art and culture. The gallery is housed in a converted dancehall that dates to 1927. Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music, and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa’s mission is to serve international, national, regional, and local arts communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media. Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.