THE International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York has chosen artist and educator Colette Veasey-Cullors to be its school’s next dean and vice-principal. ICP, a leading institution for exhibiting and teaching photography and other image-based practices, welcomes over 3,000 students each year. She will be the first person of color to lead the school.
Veasey-Cullors, whose term at ICP begins June 15, is currently acting vice provost for undergraduate studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, one of the top ranked in the United States. She worked at MICA, in various capacities, for 15 years, before which she was an associate professor at Howard University in Washington, DC.
“Veasey-Cullors shares ICP’s vision of photography as a powerful catalyst for international culture”, David E. Little, executive director of ICP, said in a statement. “She’s curious and forward-thinking, and she understands the important role art schools play in supporting students’ development as artists and professionals.”
In addition to her educational work, Veasey-Cullors is a practicing artist working primarily in photographic series, which often focus on themes of race, class, and age. She has exhibited her work at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Glassell School of Art in Houston, and the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, among others. She also sits on the board of the Aperture Foundation, the nonprofit photography publisher.
“I have dedicated my career to building inclusive, diverse, equitable and just communities, while nurturing tomorrow’s photographers, artists, scholars and responsible citizens,” Veasey-Cullors said in a statement. “I am delighted to join ICP, an institution that is committed to these values and sees them as essential components of a 21st century education.”
Founded in 1974 by Cornell Capa, the brother of famed photojournalist Robert Capa, ICP has held exhibitions and educational programs in various Manhattan locations for nearly 50 years. After long stints on the Upper East Side and then Midtown, it moved to the Lower East Side in 2016, first operating from a space on the Bowery and then, in 2020, opening in a great new space he bought in the new Essex Crossing real estate megadevelopment. Its educational offerings currently include three full-time certificate programs as well as continuing education and teen courses.
Veasey-Cullors’ predecessor, educator and photography magazine editor Fred Ritchin, was named Dean of ICP in 2014 became Dean Emeritus in 2019. Since then, photographer and filmmaker Tom Debiaso had served as acting dean.
