Artist Douglas Hollis and Marina McDougall in dialogue in the Exploratorium conversation series Ways of Knowing (photo by Deanna McDougall)
ABOUT
I am an arts curator based in Philadelphia. I have extensive experience working collaboratively to develop interdisciplinary projects in public educational contexts. I am passionate about the vital role of the arts in learning.
I have held leadership roles at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the Wattis Institute at the California College of the Arts (CCA), and have developed many projects with various institutions as an independent curator.
I have been deeply inspired by artist-founded institutions. I currently serve on the board of trustees of the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles and Slought in Philadelphia. I worked with Ali Sant and Rick Johnson to start the Studio for Urban Projects in San Francisco; and co-taught a series of courses in the Curatorial Practice program at CCA with Matthew Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation based in Los Angeles.
I have a particular interest in perceptions, ideologies, and cultural histories of nature. A long-term project, The Garden of Forking Paths, is a meta garden, a garden about gardens.
I studied literature at UC Berkeley; film semiotics at the University of Paris III; and documentary film at Stanford University.