NTID Dyer Arts Center names director

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Mark Benjamin/NTID

Tabitha Jacques has been named director of NTID’s Dyer Arts Center.

Tabitha Jacques has been named director of the Joseph F. and Helen C. Dyer Arts Center, located in Lyndon Baines Johnson Hall, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology.

Jacques, from Baton Rouge, La., formerly worked as assistive communication technology program manager at the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Washington state, and as an admissions counselor at Gallaudet University. Prior to that, she worked as an exhibit curator for the Gallaudet University Museum Project and as an adjunct professor. She was also special projects coordinator for the National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She earned a Master of Arts in art history and museum studies from Georgetown University. In 2009, she received the Diversity Fellowship from the American Association of Museums, and she wrote the publication Introduction and Experience Within Space. She is also an accomplished lecturer.

“There is a tremendous opportunity to re-invent the Dyer Arts Center,” she said. “Something I’m really looking forward to is being able to use my education and experience to connect people from different generations to art. I’m also anxious to learn more about what the community would like to see here, in addition to hosting more exhibits featuring deaf and hard-of-hearing artists, and workshops, artist presentations and performances.”

Jacques is also excited to collaborate with students, faculty and staff to generate ideas to maximize the exhibit space.

“I’m hoping to welcome more members of the Rochester community to the Dyer Arts Center,” she said. “We’re looking at expanding gallery hours to encourage visitation in the evenings and on weekends, and I will be creating a new advisory board that will be charged with helping to lead exciting changes.”

For information about upcoming exhibits, including the Paint and Wine Party from 5 to 8 p.m. on May 15, and gallery hours, go to the Dyer Arts Center website.