Incoming executive director at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU Dominic Willsdon (Photo courtesy ICA at VCU)
Although he doesn’t officially start until Dec. 1, Dominic Willsdon is already working as the new executive director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“There’s a lot of groundwork and catching up to do … I finish out [as the Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Practice at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art] Nov. 9,” Willsdon says … so I’m riding two horses for a little bit.”
A native of England with biological roots in South Africa and India, Willsdon — who holds degrees in fine arts and philosophy — cut his teeth curating at the Tate Modern and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and teaching at the Royal College of Art in London and the California College of Arts in Oakland. We spoke with Willsdon on one of his peripatetic trips to Richmond.
Richmond magazine: Why were you interested in the position at the ICA at VCU?
Dominic Willsdon: I was interested in the format of institutes of contemporary art. When I was living in London in the 1990s, [visiting] the ICA London was a formative experience for me: An ICA can bring you news about what’s happening in contemporary culture and even some indication of what might be happening in the immediate future. I love that kind of immediacy and forward-facing attitude. I also really love the multidisciplinary aspect. Even though I’ve worked in two larger museums of modern art, my responsibilities have covered the range of things that an ICA typically does: exhibitions, performances, films and talks.
RM: What is your impression of Richmond? What challenges do you see here?
Willsdon: My first impression is [of] the architecture and the setting: It’s a very beautiful city and also very compact and livable. There’s a variety of activity, from cultural activity to the whole food thing. … It reminds me of some medium-sized cities I’ve lived in before: Oakland or Liverpool. These cities have a real strong civic cultural identity.
Some of the challenges that I’m beginning to learn about are the relationships between different constituencies in this city. … I feel that there’s no such thing as a general public in terms of cultural participation — everybody’s interested in something already, and people are already part of groups and have affiliations. It makes sense to work with already-existing organizations … and then aggregate an audience that way rather than saying, 'Here’s a special thing that we do, you should be interested in our thing.' I think we need to meet people halfway.
RM: In “Declaration” and the upcoming exhibition “Hedges, Edges, Dirt,” the ICA highlights politics. Will that continue under your tenure?
Willsdon: I think it will continue. I would say that a project like “Declaration” is important to do as an opening show because an opening show is a statement of intent. It’s like an establishing shot. It’s important from the outset to be able to demonstrate that certain kinds of conversations are possible. … I don’t think we have to be dealing with political issues all the time, but it is going to be an important ongoing part of the work here.
RM: How will you bring stability to the ICA moving forward?
Willsdon: I’m sure it’s quite a different experience to be a part of a team that is working so hard to open this place versus a team that’s now here seeking to stabilize this. I have some sense of, but I can only really imagine, all the forces in play in the months and the years leading up to the opening. In many ways, we have a chance to achieve a certain kind of steady state and really settle into the way we want to be working in a regular and ongoing way.
RM: How will you bring more national and international exposure to Richmond?
Willsdon: It’s a big task. It’s a task for us all, all institutions combined and everyone who cares about this. It’s hard to change a city, but you can begin to change a story about a city, and there is a different story emerging here that I’m starting to absorb myself about the creative possibilities of this city and perhaps the cosmopolitan culture that’s getting stronger here. For our part, broadcasting that profile nationally and internationally is partly about getting visibility for projects that we will do here with international artists that other institutions haven’t done.
RM: What excites you about contemporary art?
Willsdon: That’s a big one. I’ve always been very interested in bringing to the surface forms of art practice that aren’t always the most visible … like social practice, performance, film, publications. I get excited by artists who bring in forms of practice and work in media that are not mainly seen in our museums and institutes of modern and contemporary art.
