Best Curator

KAREN COMER LOWE, director of the Chastain Arts Center, has been putting in great work for years, but she made major waves this summer when she curated a buzz-worthy exhibition for celebrated artist Hebru Brantley. With the show, titled Clay Pigeons, Lowe was able to coax the Chicago-based Clark Atlanta University graduate to mount his first solo exhibit in the ATL in four years — one that tackled social issues like police brutality and racism in ways he’d never displayed before. But helming Clay Pigeons was just the latest major move for Lowe, who’s built a career on throwing shine to super-talented artists — such as Yanique Norman, Fabian Williams and Fahamu Pecou — early in their artistic development. And with a lauded new collection featuring the work of Cosmo Whyte currently hanging at the Center, she shows no signs of slowing down or changing course. www.ocaatlanta.com/chastain.

art by Hebru Brantley

photo by: Joeff Davis

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It’s safe to say that the last five years JULIAN COX has spent as the curator of photography at the High have been some of the museum’s most productive, and arguably its most impressive. Exhibitions such as Harry Callahan: Eleanor in 2007, 2008’s Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968, and most recently, Signs of Life: Photographs by Peter Sekaer have raised the museum’s profile and helped pad its permanent collection. For the “Picturing the South” series, Cox wrangled commissions from photographer Alec Soth that now call the High home. Among the best of the nation’s photography scholars, Cox was appointed as Founding Curator of Photography for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Chief Curator of the de Young Museum in July. We’re sad to see him go, but thanks to his diligent efforts at building the museum’s permanent collection in truly meaningful ways, we have plenty to remember him by. 1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-4444. www.high.org. less...

Saltworks Gallery curator BRIAN HOLCOMBE continues to rule the local roost with his vision and ability to sniff out exceptional regional talent, including Mike Wsol, Kathryn Refi, Christopher McNulty and Michael Scoggins. In just three years, Holcombe has ignited the local arts community of curators, critics and artists by providing a berth for smart, witty conceptual work in a city where many galleries favor the safe bet. And Holcombe’s talent-spotting bore fruit on a national level as well, with his success at December’s Scope Miami art fair where he sold out work by Georgia artists Scoggins, Hope Hilton, Refi and Kojo Griffin. “Saltworks Gallery, 635 Angier Ave., 404-876-8000. www.saltworksgallery.com” less...