EMPAC welcomes Ashley Ferro-Murray as new Theater/Dance Curator

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is pleased to announce the hiring of Ashley Ferro-Murray to the position of Curator of Theater and Dance. With a background in choreography and critical theory, Ferro-Murray comes to EMPAC following the recent completion of a PhD in Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley with a focus on New Media. Originally from Ithaca, NY, where she completed undergraduate work in Dance at Cornell University, Ferro-Murray says she’s “looking forward to connecting with the Rensselaer campus and upstate theater and dance communities, while taking part in conversations happening on the national and international level.” In approaching her new role, she aims to “build on the strong foundations EMPAC has created over the years and take advantage of the diverse cross-disciplinary program that [her fellow curators] have developed.” Ferro-Murray joins Victoria Brooks (Curator of Time-Based Visual Art) and Argeo Ascani (Curator of Music) on the curatorial staff responsible for commissioning new work, programming EMPAC’s performance and events calendar, and shaping the artist-in-residence program. Representing distinct facets of EMPAC’s mission to explore the ever-changing relationship between the human senses, technology, and the worlds we create around us, EMPAC curators are tasked with the development of new projects situated at the confluence of art, science, and technology. EMPAC-commissioned work responds to contemporary advances in art and media by facilitating a collaborative environment for international artists, researchers, and theorists to work with an infrastructure unavailable elsewhere. Having spent almost a decade in the Bay Area, Ferro-Murray has a strong connection to the San Francisco dance community and says she’s “interested in investing in the conversation between East and West Coast dance communities,” and in “working with performing artists who deal with topics of digital culture and electronic media” in their work. Ferro-Murray will begin programming this summer and plans to have a number of dance and theater events prepared for the EMPAC Fall 2016 season.