The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) has announced the appointment of Janice Bond as its new Deputy Director. Bond, who assumed her role on June 23, 2020, will join CAMH’s leadership that includes Executive Director Hesse McGraw. Bond’s past experience in Chicago and here in Houston includes artist advocacy, community activation and engagement, and administrative leadership.
Bond will oversee operation at CAMH with a commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.
“CAMH is thrilled to welcome Janice to our team — as a native Houstonian, Janice’s new role represents both a homecoming and pivotal moment for the Museum,” says Hesse McGraw, CAMH’s Executive Director. “Janice brings a remarkable record to CAMH, grounded both in belief and trust in artists, and strategic operational acumen that will serve CAMH well. We look forward to the positive influence her thoughtful leadership and cultural insight will infuse into the Museum.”
Bond is a Houston native who has returned home from Chicago, where she was an artist, curator, and gallerist. Her work with Bond Creative Advisors, an art consulting practice she organized, led artist collectives and institutions through large-scale projects and programs, including artist-in-residence programs beyond Chicago. Bond was also a member of both the Chicago Cultural Plan Advisory Council and the Navy Pier Arts Working Group.
“It is a true joy to join the leadership to evolve CAMH’s historic and renowned institutional legacy,” Bond says. “For a museum to sustainably realize its vision, the endeavor must be rooted in the spirit of aligned conscience, service, and investment. As CAMH continues to travel this path, it is imperative that we recalibrate our internal and external operational models to purposefully foster equity and expanded vision. I look forward to CAMH addressing long-standing inequities through re-imagining how we listen, how we engage our communities, and how we aspire to greatness. Alongside the Houston community, artists, cultural workers, staff, and Board of Trustees, I am eager to co-create spaces that inform, inspire, and influence the experience of contemporary art in Houston and beyond.”
Bond’s experience and impact as an artist extends well beyond the United States. In 2014, she traveled to Dakar, Senegal where she became a supporter of Association Colombin, a nonprofit artist-founded organization that remains artist-led and artist-run, while teaching pottery and sculpture to deaf and mute Senegalese citizens so that they can gain independence and visibility while making a positive impact in their community. In 2016, Bond was an artist-in-residence and lecturer at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils, Latvia, where her work remains as part of the permanent collection.
Throughout Bond’s career, she has maintained an active and unwavering involvement on the community level that exemplifies her alignment for the new vision and direction of CAMH.
For more on the appointment of Janice Bond, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, please visit CAMH’s website here. (Note: CAMH is currently closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)