Evan Garza
Visual Art Curator @MASS MoCA
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WORK HISTORY
Visual Art Curator @MASS MoCA
North Adams, MA, US
I collaborate with colleagues across several departments — Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Public Programs, Advancement, Visitor Experience, and museum leadership — to conceive, fund, execute, and manage exhibitions and related commissions, programs, and publications. I also manage MASS MoCA\'s Curatorial Exchange Initiative (CEI) program and its fellows, exhibitions, and programs.
EDUCATION
Williams College
Master of Arts - MA, Art History
University of Maryland Global Campus
Bachelor of Science in General Studies, Art History Minor
St. Thomas High School
Diploma
University of Houston
Creative Writing
SKILLS
ABOUT EVAN GARZA
I’m a contemporary art scholar, queer art historian, curator at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, and graduate lecturer at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Previously at MASS MoCA, I was a Curatorial Exchange Initiative (CEI) Fellow and worked closely with the director and chief curator to lead a pilot fellowship for BIPOC American curators. As CEI Fellow I was curator of \"Steve Locke: the fire next time\" at MASS MoCA, included among Artforum\'s Top Ten of 2024. I was the 2021–2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar at IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art, and simultaneously served as Visiting Research Fellow in History of Art and Architecture at Trinity College Dublin. I\'m the former co-curator and artistic director of the 2021 Texas Biennial, former Director of Rice Public Art at Rice University in Houston, and previously I was Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. I have two decades of applied knowledge of ethics and best practices in museums, both collecting and non-collecting. I\'m proud to have been cofounder of Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), a New York nonprofit and the first residency program in the world exclusively for LGBTQ+ artists, where I was assistant director from 20••••15. Writing about artists and their work is at the heart of my practice. I recently edited \"Steve Locke: I Said What I Said,\" with an introduction by Hilton Als, co-published by MASS MoCA and DelMonico Books/DAP (March 2026). Recent publications include essays for \"At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World\" edited with text by Hilton Als and published by David Zwirner Books, and \"Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream.\" co-published by MASS MoCA, CAMH, and X Artist Books. Essays about global contemporary artists have been published in several books and monographs, and by Flash Art, ART PAPERS, and Artforum. I earned an M.A. from the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.
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