Arts-Based Community Development Convening
Transforming Post-Industrial Cities through Art and Innovation
April 12 through 14, 2012 - St. Louis

Cézanne J. Charles

Director of Creative Industries – Artserve Michigan

Moderator -2:15 pm, Thursday, April 7th -Edgy Practices: Creatives Making their Mark

Cézanne J. Charles is Director of Creative Industries at ArtServe Michigan, directing the policies and programs that support individual creative practitioners. Aimed at demonstrating the innovative capacities of individual artists and creative practitioners, programs reach statewide to provide the knowledge, networks and advocacy to support the many artists, designers, and designer-makers working at the forefront of their respective disciplines within the state. Charles, an artist and curator joined ArtServe Michigan in 2008.

From 2004 to 2007 she was Executive Director/CEO of New Media Scotland, the nation’s art and technology development organization, providing production and commissioning funds, exhibition/performance, networking and dialogue and professional development opportunities to artists and practitioners in the creative industries. Charles led efforts to define a new mission and plan that put support for artists working at the intersection of art, science and new technology at the heart of New Media Scotland.  She gained valuable leadership experience with Culture Works, the Arts Council and United Arts Fund for the Greater Dayton, Ohio area from 2000 to 2003. In that position, she administered programs and services that included grant making, technical assistance workshops, conferences/forums, and regional cultural planning initiatives for artists and arts and cultural organizations.

Charles is Co-Director of rootoftwo, a hybrid art and design collaborative practice, exhibiting and presenting in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan, Brazil and online. She has contributed to publications and critical texts exploring art, design and new technology and was a Juror and member of the curatorial committee for BioLogic: A Natural History of Digital Life an exhibition of international artists held as part of the SIGGRAPH annual conference in New Orleans (2009).  She was also the co-curator of Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders, a 2006 art, design and technology exhibition, commissioning 4 new works and presenting a further 11 works by international artists, designers and architects.

Charles holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from The Ohio State University. She is on the programming committee for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and was Assistant Editor for the July 2009 MIT Press Special SIGGRAPH Edition of LEONARDO, Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology. She is an active presenter and invited participant at statewide, regional, national and international forums. She is a member of the Upgrade! an international network of gatherings concerning art, technology and culture. Charles has also curated and contributed to several collections of video art for the public realm, including the BBC Big Screen (UK) and artist-led V1B3 (video in the built environment) programs.