San Antonio-based Alana Coates has been named as the next curator of collections and exhibitions for the Freedman Gallery at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. In recent years, Coates organized the group exhibitions Daydreams and Other Monsters at UTSA, YLA 22: ¡Ahora! at the Mexic-Arte Museum, Images of Power at Freight Gallery, and Thread at Clamp Light Artist Studios & Gallery, among others. For a number of these exhibitions, Coates wrote essays and self-produced catalogs. For the past five years, Coates has also served as the associate director of Ruiz-Healy Art, a San Antonio gallery known for its robust program focusing on local and Latin American art.
Coates’s new role overseeing the Freedman Gallery will include studio visits with young and emerging artists and trips to festivals and biennials. The gallery has two programmable spaces — a main gallery and a project space — and normally hosts about ten shows each year, one of which is its annual juried show.
David M. Tanner, the director of Albright’s Center for the Arts, commented on Coates’ appointment:
“We are excited that Ms. Coates shares our vision to continue enhancing the quality of our contemporary American art programs, exhibitions and collections. Ms. Coates’ knowledge and experience will be a great asset to our learning community at Albright, and her skill in engaging and welcoming the community-at-large will help us reach and sustain audiences.”
Coates will assume her new position on September 12th.