WHO WE ARE
The mission of Alabama Contemporary is to support cultural production, provide space for courageous conversations that shape identity, and seed growth in the greater creative economy.
We support living artists, and through our educational, public and curatorial programs advocate for human dignity and a diversity of perspectives. We strive to be a partner, resource and light in the Deep South.
About Us
Founded in 1999, Alabama Contemporary Art Center is a non-profit contemporary arts center on the outer edge of the deep Deep South, in the port city of Mobile, Alabama. We are a non-collecting organization that is committed to the work of living artists.
We serve our community by originating ten to twelve exhibitions a year, adhering the W.A.G.E. certification standards in all of our work, offering public programming, adult and children’s education, and outreach programming. Through guest curatorship, artist residencies, and the commission of new work we create sustainable opportunities for curators and artists worldwide to make work, take risks, and explore divergent paths.
Our Spaces
AC Satellite will function as short term office space for our staff while our main galleries at 301 Conti Street undergo redevelopment, and long term as a collaborative community studio space that houses Alabama Contemporary’s Artist in Residence program, education programs, and pop up exhibitions.
We support exhibitions and artists projects throughout the state. Visit our locations page to learn more.
Our Community
We provide space free of cultural or political bias, where individuals can find and create meaning.
By holding space for difference, empathetic communication of ideas, and a diversity of perspectives, we work alongside artists, educators, students and neighbors to make the Gulf Coast a more visible and connected node in the broader contemporary arts conversation.
Land Acknowledgment
It is important to us to understand the history that has brought us here, and to understand our place within that history.
It is important to us to understand the history that has brought us here, and to understand our place within that history. The lands comprising Alabama, the entirety of which Alabama Contemporary serves, are the traditional homelands of many indigenous groups including the Alabama, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coushatta, Creek, and Seminole peoples and their ancestors.
This acknowledgement is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory we reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have stewarded this place long before colonization. Acknowledgment is a small gesture, a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s culture and history. Our hope is toward acknowledging the humanity and dignity of indigenous peoples, and to work toward correcting trauma, building equitable relationships and reconciliation.
For more information visit native-land.ca.
Our Staff
Paint over each image to reveal a different side to our team members.
Elizabet Elliott
Executive Director/Curator
Elliott joined Alabama Contemporary in November of 2018. Elliott has been curating since 2009 at both the grass-roots and institutional level.
Glenn Robertson
Director of Storytelling
Glenn joined ACAC in April 2022, and brought with her almost a decade of arts administration and nonprofit experience. She has a BA in Art from Sewanee: The University
Allison Skoda
Curator
Allison has been on staff since January 2012, and has loved seeing Alabama Contemporary’s identity come to fruition. She attended University of South Alabama,
Micah Mermilliod
Curator
Micah has been with Alabama Contemporary since September 2020. He helps manage internal exhibition processes, facilitate communication with exhibiting artists, and handles registrar duties for incoming artwork.
NIKKI GRIMES
Curator of Programs
Nikki Grimes is a highly successful local drag artist with two years of experience in events planning and design and six years of involvement in the local arts scene.
Our Board of Directors
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Thomas J. Adams, Ph.D
USA Department of Integrative Studies
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Dr. Raoul R. Richardson, Treasurer
Baheth Research & Development Laboratories LTD.
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Susie Bowman, Education Committee
Independent Artist and Educator
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Marion Steinfels
Public Affairs and Communications Consultant
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Chandra Brown, Board Chair
Executive Director of Lifelines Counseling Services
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Maxine Walters, Esq.
Attorney at Law, Founder of Reaching the Bar
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Colleen Comer, Development Committee
Independent Artist and Educator
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Erin Chalub
Independent Designer
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Carol S. Hunter (Ex-Oficio)
Downtown Mobile Alliance
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Julie H. Friedman, Vice Chairperson
Alabama State Council on the Arts
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Paige A. Vitulli, Ph.D (Ex-Oficio)
USA Integrative Studies and Department of Leadership and Teacher Education
