Pages Navigation Menu

Talking Art & Design with Tim Rodgers

Posted by

Talking Art & Design with Tim Rodgers

 

 




Introduction to Tim Rodgers.  1:40 min.  Video:  Produced by Robin Hill and provided courtesy of The Wolfsonian–FIU

 

Tim Rodgers has been the director of The Wolfsonian—FIU since 2015.

Rodgers previously served as the director of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as Vice President of The Scottsdale Cultural Council (SCC), a private, non-profit organization that administers the city’s arts and cultural programs and facilities.

As director of SMoCA he successfully oversaw over 20 employees and a budget of $2.2 million while producing up to 12 exhibitions annually. He attracted 160 new works assessed at $4.25 million to the museum’s permanent collection and increased its endowment by $520,000.

During his tenure, the museum garnered national grants from the Warhol Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others, received various accolades by national media, and was named one of the Thirteen Best Western Museums by Art. Ltd., 2011.

From 2002–09 Rodgers was Chief Curator of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, where he oversaw five curators and a collection of 25,000 objects, worked closely with the development staff in attracting donations and spearheaded a $30 million addition to the museum.

Rodgers’ academic profile includes an appointment as Visiting Professor of Contemporary Art and Theory at College of Santa Fe from 2005–08. Prior to that, he served in various academic and leadership capacities at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, including as Assistant then Associate Professor of Art History; as Director of the university’s London Study Centre in London, England; and as Director and Curator of the Wriston Art Center Galleries.

Rodgers earned a B.A. in Art from Arizona State University, an A.M. in History of Art as well as a Ph.D. in History of Art from Brown University.

The videos below are organized by topic and run between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE: 0:50 sec.




What is your earliest memory of art?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   0:50 sec.




What was your first mature encounter with art, and when did you start to feel passionate about it?

 

SERENDIPITY:  2:48 min.




Where did you go to school, and what did you learn that still impacts your career today?

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:  3:30 min.




Describe the evolution of your career.

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:  0:58 sec.




Sounds like you had a lot of self-confidence, and believed that you could be successful at whatever you chose to do.

 

UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART:  2:51 min.




What inspired you to focus on decorative arts?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 2:36 min.




What did you do after graduate school?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:   2:04 min.




Who are your role models and influencers?

 

STRONG DRIVE FOR ACHIEVEMENT:  1:56 min.




Most of the museum directors in South Florida have elite educations like yours. Has that become a requirement for being a museum director?

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:  2:11 min.




How has your focus changed over the years?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  2:01 min.




Talk about the scope of The Wolfsonian–FIU collection, how new pieces enter the collection, and how you collaborate with other collections.

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  1:09 min.




Are you satisfied with the archival standards of The Wolfsonian?

 

COLLABORATION:  0:31 sec.




Where does the museum do its restoration work?

 

SERENDIPITY:  2:37 min.




What has been the role of serendipity in your career?

 

UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE:  2:21 min.




Can you compare and contrast the art communities of the Southwest and South Florida?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  1:24 min.




Since The Wolfsonian–FIU has an internationally sophisticated audience, creating intellectually challenging exhibitions is a key to your success. Who does that?

 

RESPECTS OTHERS POINTS OF VIEW:  2:21 min.




Who do you use for a sounding board?

 

CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY:  1:01 min.




Do you have time to curate exhibitions?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  1:22 min.




What are your biggest challenges?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  4:09 min.




Please describe a challenging situation with a successful outcome.

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  3:52 min.




What is your vision for the future of the arts in Miami and South Florida?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  3:11 min.




Does Miami need a government-sponsored “arts master plan?” (If that was possible).