We continue our RAC staff introductions with Risa Shoup, our Programming Director. Risa initially became part of Recession Art as Guest Curator for What is the Where? at the Invisible Dog in fall 2010. Risa spent four years as the Programming Director of chashama before she decided to work independently. Currently, she is the residency manager for the BRIC House Fireworks Residency, a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary artists’ residency set to open in 2013. In 2010 and 2011 Shoup curated two small group shows at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn, NY. In July 2011, she opened “Ode Hotel” in the Old Hotel section of The Wassaic Project’s Maxon Mills exhibition space.  She is currently exhbiting The Bricoleurs, an exhibition of  the work of artists who explore the medium of collage and assemblage, and examine expanding the canon of these processes, co-curated with Christian Fuller at the BRIC Rotunda Gallery. In March 2012, she will curate a site-specific installation by sculptor R. Justin Stewart at the Invisible Dog.

We also asked Risa to tell us about her experience working with RAC. Here’s what she had to say:

RA: What’s been the most rewarding part about working at RAC?

RS: My immediate reaction is: “doing something I haven’t done for a very long time – booking events in all disciplines.” Really, this is an impossible question to answer because there are so many “most rewarding” parts about working at RAC.  Nevertheless, I’ve been curating contemporary art and also working with RA for a while now, but it’s been a few years since I’ve produced performing arts and multi-disciplinary events on a regular basis in a regular location, and I’m super excited to be fulfilling that role again.  It’s going to increase RA’s, as well as my own, exposure to artists in different disciplines and at different stages of their careers. I really want this to become a laboratory for people farther along in their careers to try new things, and a stage for people closer to the beginning of their careers to put themselves out their for the public to see.

RA: What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced at RAC?

RS: I have a lot going on, so a personal challenge has been finding the time to do everything I want as well as I want. I’ve had to slow myself down and work very methodically, which will probably lead to greater success in the long run, and I’m grateful for that, but I’m also chomping at the bit.

RA: What are you most looking forward to working with RAC?

RS: Well, initially  it was the opening. But now that that’s over, I’m really excited for our first few events. We’ve got Volume 1: Brooklyn (a reading series) on Feb 9, and Mike Lala’s Fireside Follies, a video screening of the work of Jordan Rathus and a performance/reading event of the work of a great young writer named Brian Spitulnik in the near future. I have a lot more I want to do: regular screenings of animated shorts, concerts, performance art, and parties! The future looks like a lot of fun.

Don’t miss our next event Volume 1: Brooklyn on February 9th at RAC! To see a full list of events at RAC, please visit our calendar.