Who We Are

Our Mission

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-collecting contemporary arts organization based in Mobile, Alabama. We are a non-profit committed to supporting the work of living artists. As a ‘Museum without Walls’ we work state-wide to create opportunities for artists through curating exhibitions, facilitating paid residencies, managing project granting programs, and commissioning new work. We work with large museums and grass roots community partners alike, adhere W.A.G.E. certification standards, offer public programs, adult and children’s education, and outreach. Our work is to create sustainable opportunities for curators and artists to make new work that ties into the needs and lived experience of the Deep South.

We fill a void in the arts-ecosystem of the South by providing paid opportunities for artists to make (and keep) new work. We prioritize platforming underrepresented voices that have something to add to the national conversation. We are dedicated to supporting that which does not exist yet, and structure our opportunities to support risk-taking and the exploration of new paths forward.

Our Education department specializes in building critical thinking skills with young adults, and technical skills with the fully grown. We take an interdisciplinary approach in all our classes and camps, while off-site outreach leverages the exhibition content to facilitate ‘courageous conversations’ and skill development.

In the State of Alabama

Fifty percent of the program schedule works with institutional partners. We work with Museums, Art Centers and cultural spaces statewide to facilitate artist-led projects, commission new work, and originate new exhibitions that build the cultural lexicon of the South. Working with living artists to create a new body of work from seed to tree is a skill that we leverage to broaden the capacity and reach of our existing cultural assets. 

About half of our programming brings artists and projects into underserved communities in a diverse range of partnerships with community organizations. Projects grounded in local history or community needs provide access to the arts and visibility to the often incomplete histories of our region. We work with partner organizations, enlist research teams and build a support system for the artists to facilitate the highest possible impact where there is little to no arts access point.

In addition to working with established arts and non-arts organizational partners across the state, we also work as a ‘Placemaker’ on adaptive re-use projects; helping developers, architects, and community stakeholders image what a building could be, and build it for long term sustainability for the community that will run it. We facilitate community story-telling, identify local culture-builders, and work as advocates (and sometimes continuing program support) for new cultural assets in divested communities. 

In all our programming we provide a third space free of cultural or political bias, where individuals can find and create meaning. By holding space for difference, empathetic communication of ideas, and diverse cultural representation, we play an integral role in building a sense of cultural identity with our community that contributes to the quality of life in the State of Alabama.

OUR STAFF

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. Prior to coming to Alabama Contemporary she served 5 years at the Mobile Museum of Art, and 4 years as the founding director of the Rumor Union, a grass roots community art organization that organized site-specific installation, performance and new media festivals, cross-disciplinary collaborations, outreach and education projects, and guerrilla exhibitions. Elliott has also served on several boards and in community action groups, including 2 years as Vice President of the Creative Wellness Foundation. She received her BFA with First Class Honours from Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand in 2009, and her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard Collage in Port Townsend, WA in 2014, with a focus on social/civic practice. She enjoys action movies and dirty jokes.

elizabet@alabamacontemporary.org

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 of the South and a MA in Arts Administration from the University of New Orleans. When not crafting and sharing stories that celebrate artists and their work, she enjoys escapades with her toddler, antique stores, scary movies, propagating plants, and rearranging her house on the regular. She is our resident social media analyst, editor, and self-proclaimed welcoming committee.

glenn@alabamacontemporary.org

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, has called Mobile home for 16 years, and during that time has watched Mobile’s creative community grow and thrive. She would describe her style as “grandma chic” and her personality as a “walking exclamation point”. She is a professional optimist and cheese enthusiast. Allison oversees curatorial logistics and public programs.

allison@alabamacontemporary.org

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. He is a practicing artist with a BFA in Studio Art concentrating in photography and printmaking and in May 2022 received an MFA in Creative Technology and Practice from the University of South Alabama. A fan of the new and old alike, he enjoys sci-fi, vinyl records, gardening, and scavenging thrift stores.

micah@alabamacontemporary.org

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. Through their self-managed art they have been given the opportunity to work with several local charities and organizations to create as well as direct show-stopping events that range from community outreach fundraisers to parties, concerts and weddings. In their free time you can find them watching horror movies, designing clothes and building terrariums for all of their creepy, crawly pets. Nikki oversees programs and event-based fundraising here at Alabama Contemporary Art Center.

nikki@alabamacontemporary.org

2025 Annual Report

2024 Annual Report

2023 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

2021 Annual Report

Our Board of Directors (alphabetical) 

Thomas J. Adams, Ph.D
USA Department of Integrative Studies

Susie Bowman, Education Committee
Independent Artist and Educator 

Chandra Brown, Board Chair
Executive Director of Lifelines Counseling Services

Colleen Comer, Development Committee
Independent Artist and Educator 

Julie H. Friedman, Vice Chairperson
Alabama State Council on the Arts

Dr. Raoul R. Richardson, Treasurer
Baheth Research & Development Laboratories LTD.

Marion Steinfels
Public Affairs and Communications Consultant

Maxine Walters, Esq.
Attorney at Law, Founder of Reaching the Bar

Carol S. Hunter (Ex-Oficio)
Downtown Mobile Alliance

Paige A. Vitulli, Ph.D (Ex-Oficio)
USA Integrative Studies and Department of Leadership and Teacher Education