Defending Imagination: Dr. Lisa Freiman at TEDxRVA

Lisa Freiman, an internationally recognized curator and leader in the contemporary art field, is the inaugural director of Virginia Commonwealth University's new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), scheduled to open in 2016. She received her doctorate in modern and contemporary art history from Emory University and went on to become a member of the faculty of art history, theory, and criticism at the University of Georgia and part of the curatorial department of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Between 2002 and 2013, she served as senior curator and chair of the contemporary art department at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).

During her 11-year tenure at the IMA, Lisa transformed the experience of contemporary art in Indianapolis to create a dynamic and widely renowned contemporary art program that has become an influential model for encyclopedic museums as they engage with the art of our time. As a result of her work at the IMA, in 2011, she was appointed by the U.S. Department of State as commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion in the 54th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, in which role she presented six newly commissioned, site-responsive works by Puerto Rico--based artists Allora & Calzadilla, the first collaborative to be presented in the U.S. Pavilion.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)