Jodi McCoy, is the Director of Exhibitions for the University Galleries, comprising the Brick City Gallery, Carolla Arts Exhibition Center, and various satellite exhibition spaces, at Missouri State University. She also just started working with AAMG as a volunteer on our communications team. Thank you Jodi for your membership, sharing your time, and talent with us!
What’s one thing — either industry/work-related or not — you learned in the past month?
I’ve known and believed this for a while, but I finally learned that the practice of rest is actual work.
If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be?
I’d trade places with any preparator. While I don’t have as many chances to get my hands involved in the labor of install and de-install these days, it’s always been my favorite part of the job.
Coffee or Tea?
Both! Hot coffee in the morning and unsweet, iced tea in the afternoon.
Book/Author suggestion?
I’m currently reading Sabrina Strings’ Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia and Melissa Gronlund’s Contemporary Art and Digital Culture—both fantastic reads! I also devoured The Maidens by Alex Michaelides over spring break and loved every page.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I went through many wild discovery phases, from oceanographer to archeologist, but I always returned to my desire to teach.
What do you enjoy most about being a part of an academic museum?
I am eternally grateful to be part of a department and college that actively supports and believes in what we’re doing in the University Galleries. That support ensures the work I do in the galleries remains connected to our students and community members so that we can continue to grow and engage meaningfully with our audience.
What are your hopes for our industry?
My hope is that we never lose the ability to genuinely grow, adapt, and make actionable changes. I believe that establishing a regular practice of actively listening to our students and community members will help us with that necessary evolution.
Bonus: Do you have a favorite joke to share?
Took my class to the dinosaur museum today. While I spent the whole day looking up at the giant fossils, I discovered a new species: Myneckisaur