Presented by Hermitage Curatorial Council Member Limor Tomer and Ringling’s Curator of Performance Elizabeth Doud

In Partnership with The Hermitage Artist Retreat, The Ringling will host a conversation with two museum-based performance curators.

Traditionally the home of some of the world’s most valuable artistic treasures, museums have been repositories for visual art of all styles through the ages. But more recently, thanks to the efforts of innovative and forward-thinking curators like Hermitage Curatorial Council member Limor Tomer and the Ringling’s own curator of Performance Elizabeth Doud, museums are increasingly a site for contemporary, live performance as well. From theater and music to dance and other multidisciplinary art forms under Tomer’s leadership, The Metropolitan Museum (NYC) has hosted groundbreaking performance events in its auditorium as well its galleries and public spaces, giving birth to such interdisciplinary pieces as Gavin Creel’s Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, experienced on the Hermitage Beach in 2022. Hear from two leaders in this growing field about the unique challenges and opportunities of transforming these hallowed halls into community gathering spaces for performance.

About Elizabeth Doud

Elizabeth Doud is the Currie-Kohlmann Curator of Performance at The Ringling, where she manages the presentation of provocative time-based art across a range of disciplines. A Florida-based arts professional, scholar and multi-disciplinary theater artist, Doud has over 25 years’ experience as an arts organizer, presenter, generative artist, and educator, with an emphasis on international cultural exchange and climate arts. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Miami and a PhD in Performing Arts from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. From 2005-2018, Doud led the Performing Americas Program of the National Performance Network and was the Artistic Director of the Cultura del Lobo Series at Miami Dade College from 2009-2011. She created and toured her eco-performance laboratory The Mermaid Tear Factory in Brazil, Cuba, and South Florida during 2015-2018. Among other awards and recognition, she received a Knight Foundation Arts Challenge Grant in 2018 and has twice been an invited Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. 

About Limor Tomer

Hermitage National Curatorial Council member Limor Tomer has led the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Live Arts program for over a decade, during which time she completely transformed the program into a world leader in museum-based performance. As General Manager of Live Arts, she curates, commissions, produces, and presents groundbreaking performances, both in the Museum’s 700-seat auditorium and its galleries and public spaces. Performances reach over 100,000 visitors annually, over 500,000 online, and have garnered consistent critical and audience praise. She regularly gives presentations on museum-based performance art around the world and leads workshops with museums nationally and internationally. Limor holds two degrees from The Juilliard School and an Honorary Doctorate from Manhattan School of Music. She was honored by ETHEL, So Percussion, and ASCAP for her work in adventurous programming, she teaches Entrepreneurship in creative production at The New School, and serves on the National Curatorial Council of the Hermitage Artist Retreat.