Emerging Curator Program: 2026 Open Call

This year, the program is accepting curatorial proposals centered on moving image works that can be presented as a single program, or programming series, rather than an exhibition. Emerging curators are encouraged to propose projects that can be presented in a gallery space or theater over no more than four days/evenings. Exact format and scheduling to be coordinated in collaboration with the LACE team.

Note: this call is specifically for curators and not artists submitting proposals of their own work.

Submissions are expected to be open in nature because of the generous planning time allotted. The LACE team will work with the selected Emerging Curator/Curatorial Team in developing the project as it evolves over the planning year, and will collaborate on programming to ensure the work reaches its intended audiences. The project must be designed with a $6,000 budget in mind, including curatorial and artist fees. LACE will provide space, project consultation, presentation assistance, and marketing and promotion.

Guidelines for Curatorial Proposals

Applications may be submitted by an individual or curatorial team and must be based in the Los Angeles region. 

• Online applications only; no in-person submissions are accepted.
• Applicants are limited to one submission; there is no submission fee.
• Submissions must be consistent with LACE’s tradition of supporting experimental projects.
• Visuals are optional but encouraged; include PDFs or web links. Video samples should be no longer than 5 mins in length total, with a maximum of 2 video samples per proposal. 
• Proposal descriptions are limited to a maximum of 300 words
• The panel may request the submission of additional materials at a later date.
• Curators with artistic practices should not submit their own work.

Applications for the 2026 Emerging Curator Program will open via Submittable on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. The deadline to submit project proposals is Sunday, April 27, 2025. For any questions or concerns about the application process or about the Emerging Curator Program, contact us at submissions@welcometolace.org

Jheanelle Brown is a film curator/programmer, educator, and arts administrator. Brown is a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts in the Program of Film and Video and curator of Film at REDCAT. Her curatorial practice creates frameworks to explore the boundlessness of Black life in experimental and non-fiction film and video. She is interested in the space between fugitivity and futurity and elevating an ethic of care, with a special interest in the sonic in film, political film and media, and Caribbean film/video. Her recent programs and exhibitions include KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Media Arts of Ben Caldwell, at Art + Practice, in collaboration with the California African American Museum and LA Filmforum Getty PST:Art film series Experimentations: Imag(in)ing Knowledge in Film.

Carrie Chen (she/her) is an artist, curator, and educator based in Los Angeles. Her work spans CGI animation, real-time interactivity, game engine simulation, and installation, exploring themes of hybridity, representation, time, and memory. Spending time between the US and China, Carrie’s practice draws on non-Western ontologies while also deconstructing and reconfiguring her relationship to intercultural narratives. Chen is the recipient of the 2024 STRP Award for Creative Technology and served as a jury member for the A+D Architecture + Design Museum’s 2024 Design Awards. She has exhibited internationally at Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (Sweden), STRP Festival (Netherlands), SKF/Konstnärshuset (Sweden), Denver Digerati Media Festival (USA), New Wight Gallery (USA) and Epoch Gallery (Digital). She has participated in large-scale public art installations at Long Beach Airport (USA), CIRCA DTLA (USA) and West Hollywood Moving Image Media Arts (USA), and has been invited to speak internationally.

Her expanded practice involves curation, design commissions and teaching. As the 2024 Emerging Curator at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), she curated the video screening series “A Fossil, A Ruin, A Memory” hosted at the Philosophical Research Society. She currently teaches Advanced Visual Design at USC Media Arts + Practice, and 3D Arts at Parsons School of Design. Chen holds a BS in Applied Psychology and Art History from NYU, and an MFA in Design Media Art from UCLA.

Heber Rodriguez is a Los Angeles-based curator, arts administrator, and cultural producer dedicated to building community through cultural events, exhibitions, and performances. His curatorial practice is deeply shaped by his personal journey as an undocumented individual growing up in Northeast Los Angeles, where he found sanctuary and identity in the arts. He collaborates with artists and creatives to develop programs that position the arts as tools for liberation, amplify underrepresented voices and stories, and inspire action toward a more equitable and just society. Heber holds an MA in Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere from the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design. He currently serves as the Director of Exhibitions at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA, where he works to present innovative and socially engaged contemporary art that resonates with diverse audiences.

Past Emerging Curators

Nahui Garcia, This Home, Forever (coming summer 2025)
Carrie Chen, A Fossil, A Ruin, A Memory (2024)
Joy A. Anderson and Robin Garcia, Of Seed, Soil, and Stars (2023)
Cat Jones, Reclaiming Performance: Reverence of Self (2022)
Kevin Moultrie-Daye and Alex Jones, PARABLE 003 (2021)
Abigail Raphael Collins, SOUND OFF: Silence + Resistance (2020)
Narei Choi and Nicolas Orozco-Valdivia, Take my Money / Take My Body (2019)
Emily Butts, Names Printed in Black (2018)
Virginia Broersma, Nick Brown, and Kio Griffith, The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley (2017)
Idurre Alonso and Selene Preciado, Customizing Language (2016)