The Academy Art Museum has hired Mehves Lelic as Curator. Lelic is an Istanbul-born photographer, art lecturer, curator and educator living in Maryland. Museum Director Ben Simons says, “We are thrilled to hire Mehves as AAM Curator. In this capacity, she will oversee the Curatorial Department, lead our exhibitions and collections programs, and supervise Curatorial Assistant Conner Dorbin. Mehves has impressive experience as a lecturer, curator and practicing artist/photographer. She is a delightful, intellectually curious professional very engaged with how visual arts relate to contemporary society.”
Mehves Lelic, Curator, Academy Art Museum
Lelic says, “I’ve admired the energized and forward-thinking exhibitions and programming at the Museum since I moved to the Eastern Shore. It’s a wonderful time to come on board as we get ready for our Grand Re-Opening. I look forward to supporting initiatives already in the works as well as putting together new and exciting projects for the future.”
Lelic received her BA from the University of Chicago, trained as a Teaching Artist at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and undertook Photography Workshops at Magnum Photos in Paris, France. She served most recently as Education and Outreach Program Coordinator at the Salisbury University Art Galleries, and as an Adjunct Faculty Member in Photography in the Department of Visual Arts, Humanities and World Languages at Anne Arundel Community College. She has organized, curated and juried numerous recent exhibitions and programming initiatives at Salisbury University Art Galleries and the Kohl Gallery at Washington College. She will serve as Curator with an interim appointment, to be evaluated in the fall of 2020. She succeeds former Museum Curator Anke Van Wagenberg, who left in January 2020 for a new position as Senior Curator at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
Lelic is the recipient of the National Geographic Expeditions Council Grant and the City of Chicago Individual Artist Award and has facilitated a SAHA Foundation Grant for SU Art Galleries. Her work has been exhibited internationally in venues such as ICA Baltimore, Filter Space Chicago, the Rotterdam Photo Festival, Cosmos Arles France, the Ogden Museum, Institute Des Cultures d’Islam in Paris, the Photographers’ Gallery Istanbul, and others; and published in Aesthetica Magazine, GEO, the National Geographic, Der Greif, Ain’t Bad and Lenscratch.
Conner Dorbin, Curatorial Assistant, Academy Art Museum
Lelic will supervise and work closely with Conner Dorbin, hired as Curatorial Assistant in the fall of 2019. Dorbin moved back to his hometown of Easton after completing his Master of Arts in Cultural Policy and Arts Management at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. Dorbin has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in Museum Studies from St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) in St. Mary’s City, MD. While in college he worked as a Professional Fellow Graphic Designer in the Career Development Center at SMCM, as well as in the SMCM Boyden Gallery. He has also held internships in both the Calvert Marine Museum and the Peale Museum in Baltimore, MD.
He comments, “After returning to Easton, where I grew up, I am realizing how much the town is changing.” He adds, “I am excited to be joining the Museum at this time as the staff is developing new ways for the Museum to interact with the community. The Museum is shaping the arts to cater to a community that is hungry for a place that promotes accessibility, creativity, and engagement to everyone.”
Simons states, “We are thrilled to have Conner on board. His experience and skills are a perfect fit for our museum.”
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