Rosie Gordon-Wallace
Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc

Diaspora Vibe Gallery
Miami Design District
3938 North Miami Avenue
Miami, FL 33127
PH: 305-573-4046
FX: 305.573-7675
www.diasporavibe.net
rgw@diasporavibe.net

Areas of Focus 

• Consultant/ speaker on diversity initiatives at corporate entities
• Consultant in nonprofit startup, commercial gallery startup, and arts administration
• Creation of community based programming, using art to encourage intercultural dialogue
• Arts administration, development, grant research/writing
• Art/ cultural criticism including international movements in the Americas, Caribbean, Africa, and Asia
• Curation of local and transnational exhibitions that are contemporary, diverse and innovative
• Public lectures on contemporary visual arts and cultural production among the Diaspora
• Professional development of emerging artists and curators

Selected Professional Experience  

• 05/1996 – Present Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Inc., Miami, Florida Director/ Curator/ Founder A commercial gallery representing contemporary emerging artists of all media, living in Miami, New York, the Caribbean, and Latin America, which actively promotes artists to individual donors and corporate clients
• 10/1999 – Present Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc. 501©3, Miami, Florida
  Director / Curator/ Founder
  A multi-disciplinary art space with transnational creative programs that redefine concepts of “diaspora” specifically in the Caribbean and Latin America. Programs include the International Cultural Exchange Program the Exhibitions Program featuring the Caribbean Crossroads Series, the Artist-In-Residence Program, and Off The Wall Experimental Lab Series.
• 2004 – 2005 Dudley Hamilton Management, NY, New York Consultant
  Work with corporate leaders--- CEOs, Directors, Senior Consultants on developing and implementing diversity initiatives in the work force
• 1999 Centre d’Activites Sportives et Culturelles, Bercy, Paris
  Director and Co-Curator with Marie Des DesMartin, Paris; for the International Artist Exchange with the Centre d’Activites Sportives et Culturelles in Bercy, Paris
• 1981 - 1999 Searle Pharmaceuticals, Miami, Florida
  Senior Consultant
  Worked with Searle Pharmaceuticals as Sr. Consultant Medical Pharmaceutical Representative
• 1978 Licensed Medical Microbiologist.

Programs Developed & Curated 

• 1999 – Present Caribbean Crossroads Series, an ongoing exhibitions program featuring innovative contemporary art-making by artists of the Caribbean, Latin American and African Diaspora. CCS was created specifically to address the need for new and emerging black and Hispanic artists of Caribbean and Latin American backgrounds to bring their work to the attention of South Florida’s various cross-cultural communities.
• 1999 – Present International Cultural Arts Exchange Series, a program developed to extend the “creative space” beyond Miami, and provide significant professional development for artists, educators, and arts administrators in both Miami and the host community. Highlights include programs in St. Kitts, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Jamaica, Grenada, and Barbados. Upcoming International Cultural Arts Exchange Series: Puerto Rico Memory and Fragmentation, Photography & Performance
• 2006 First International Diaspora Artists Biennale (Nassau, Bahamas) in collaboration with National Art Gallery of Bahamas, and Popop Studios bringing together more than fifty international artists, critics, and historians to discuss the state of contemporary Caribbean art making. Funded by the Ford Foundation.
• 2006- Present <<<Off the Wall/ Experimental Lab Series >> a two-week interdisciplinary residency in which artists present time-based, out-of-the-box work including performance, video, film, research, sound art, and installation.
• 1996- Present Artist-In-Residence In Program, a quarterly program which provides young and emerging artists of color opportunities for creative and professional development through mentorship, exhibitions, workshops, and arts administration.
• 2000 – Present Literary Arts Program, featuring literary readings and lectures by Edwidge Danticat, Toby Thompkins, Pam Mordecai, Nalo Hopkinson, Lorna Owens, Marva McClean. Phd and Geoffrey Philps in collaboration with Miami Book Fair International

Selected Community Projects

• Carnival Center for the Performing Arts Board
  DASH Board of Directors
• Partners For Artisans Board
• Jamaica US Chamber Board
• Bass Museum Acquistion & Exhibition Board
• International Cultural Exchange : Aruba
• Images and Voices of Hope: Panel discussion on global peace.
• Miami Dade College : “Having it all” panel
• Knight-Ridder, Silver Knight Competition Judge
• Caribbean Images: Caribbean Festival, Florida Atlantic University: Moderator & Community Panelist
• Miami-Dade Community College Book Fair: Panel presenter
• Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County: Community Judge for Art Contest
• Women’s Fund Mother and Others Day Luncheon: Books & Books Project
• Africando, Port of Miami Festival Artist Committee
• Artist showcase of the Palm Beaches Women History Month Exhibition
• Latcrit Foundation: Speaker on Sierra Leone Series University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
• Barbadiana 12 Artisites, Barbadiens Art show
• Creating and Defining the African-American Community; Family, Church, Politics and culture
• Art & Business Council Speaker on marketing the Emerging Artists in South Florida
• Barbados in 2 Dimensions – Contemporary Art Exhibition
• Rotary International Speaker on Immigration and the Arts
• International Artists- in -Residence Exchange program to Edna Manley School of the Arts, Jamaica, W.I.
• International Art Exhibition, Paris, France
• One Community One Goal: Summer Mentor

Selected Lectures, Panel Discussions, Conferences

• 2008 Jamaica Diaspora Conference - Jamaica
  2008 Second International Diaspora Biennale – St Maarten
• 2007 El Museo de Arte Ponce – Puerto Rico – Caribbean Art Talk
• 2007 Wing Luke Museum Presentation
• 2006 Organizer/ Participant, “Contemporary Art of the Caribbean: Are you Paying Attention?”, Art Miami, organizer and participant. Participants include Carol Damian moderator.
• 2006 Participant, “Passion in Art”, Part of Culture in the City Series Damien B. Gallery, Miami, FL
• 2006 Participant, “Carriers of the Dream” Organized by Carol Boyce Davies, FIU, African New World Studies Program, Miami, FL
• 2006 Participant, “Art/Culture Crossing Borders and Boundaries”, presented by Arts at St. Johns, panel discussion at Diaspora Vibe Gallery,
• 2005 “Cultivating the Spirit of Community”, Presenter, Winter Institute in Arts Management Conference, Miami
• 2005 Lecture Series in Nassau, Bahamas” Hosted by he National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, Miami, FL
• 2005 Keynote Speaker, Emerging Leaders in the Arts, Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts, in collaboration with Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs
• 2005 Lecturer, The Frost Art Museum: Latin American & Caribbean Art Lecture Series, Miam, FL
• 2004 Lecturer, “Soon Come: Contemporary Jamaican Art, Lowe Art Museum
• 2001 Presenter, University of Florida, “Encountering Latin America: Exploring the Parameters and Relevance of LatCrit Theory In and Through a Regional Rotation” Sixth Annual LatCrit Conference

Selected Publications

• 2006 Erica Wells, “Tapping Into The Country’s Artistic Intellectual Resources”, The Bahama Journal, 2/06 http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=156&a=7333
• 2006 Hasan Brown, “Rosie Gordon-Wallace Displaying the Soul of Arts”, Rolling Out, Feb. 06, http://www.rollingout.com
• 2005 Susan Mains, “The Visual Arts in Grenada, A Sustainable Source”, Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters, Volume 3, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2005, p. 113
• 2000 Tildy Bayar, "Some Notes on Some Pieces by Sara Roberts", Open Space Magazine, 5/00, p97-98
• 2000 Neal Peirce, “A New Wave of Trailblazers Unite Communities “, South Florida Communtiy Development Coalition, November 24, 2000
• 1999 “40 to Watch”, Miami Herald, 1999
• 1998 Nina Korman, “Islanders and Imagery”, Miami New Times, June 25, 1998 (http://music.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/1998-06-25/calendar/nightday.html)

Selected Funding Secured

• Ford Foundation- Artography: Arts in a Changing America
• Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs- International Cultural Exchange Program, Community Grants Program, Developing Arts In Neighborhoods
• Dade Community Foundation
• City of Miami/ FACE Office
• Surdna Foundation
• Funding Arts Network
• State of Florida
• National Endowment of the Arts
• Andy Warhol Foundation
• Elizabeth Firestone Foundation

Memberships and Board Appointments

• Member, CEO Forum of Miami
• Member, Corporate Women’s Network, NYC
• Member, Florida Society for Medical Technologists
• Board Member Dade Cultural Alliance
• Member, Florida Women’s Investment Club
• Board Member- Carnival Performing Arts Center
• Advisory Board Member, Miami Dade College Advisory
• Board Member Jamaica USA Chamber of Commerce
• Advisory Board Member, Design & Architecture High School (DASH)
• Advisory Board Member, Jamaica Artist Alliance, Washington D.C.

Education

• Diplomat Society of Medical Microbiology
• Graduate, University Hospital College of the West Indies -
• Medical Microbiology & Immunology.
• Graduate Studies, University of Manchester, England
• Research Medical Microbiology - Infectious Diseases –UM.
• Art History : Miami Dade College
• Fundamentals of Arts Management – University of Massachusetts, Amherst