Art historian and curator Rebecca Brantley has joined UTC as curator and director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA Chattanooga) and a faculty associate in the Department of Art.
Brantley comes to UTC from Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia, where, as director of the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art and an associate professor, she developed an exhibition program centered on the American South, expanded the museum’s audience and collection, and helped lead a 58% increase in attendance in recent years.
“We are thrilled to have Rebecca Brantley join us as the new curator and director at the ICA,” said UC Foundation Professor Katie Hargrave, the head of the Department of Art. “Her skills and expertise in developing audiences and elevating Southern art will serve our institution well, as UTC prides itself on its Carnegie Community Engaged Campus designation. The faculty are excited to see her connect to our curriculum through her curatorial efforts and her work directly with our students in the classroom.”
At Piedmont, Brantley expanded the museum’s permanent holdings in contemporary photography and ceramics, including works by Bud Lee and Chris Aluka Berry, as well as historical Japanese ceramics and pieces by contemporary Southern makers. She also organized temporary exhibitions featuring artists such as Richard Notkin, Cosmo Whyte, Joni Mabe, Art Rosenbaum, Cheryl Goldsleger, Ashlyn Pope and Thaddeus Erdahl.
Brantley collaborated with Matthew Teutsch to co-curate an exhibition focused on writer and civil rights activist Lillian E. Smith and Smith’s art collection. In addition to her museum leadership, she developed coursework in museum studies and interdisciplinary research and secured multiple Georgia Council for the Arts grants to support workshops for underserved rural audiences.
Brantley has an extensive record of community engagement. She spent 13 years with ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, where she served as board president from 2015-16 and curated seven exhibitions. She also served as director and secretary for the Demorest Downtown Development Authority from 2023-26, working with civic leaders to increase community involvement.
An author and critic, Brantley has contributed chapters to “The Focal Press Companion to the Constructed Image in Contemporary Photography,” “The Grandeur of the Everyday,” and “Contemporary Art About Architecture: A Strange Utility.” Her reviews have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Metalsmith, and she has written for ArtsATL, Burnaway and Flagpole—profiling artists such as Paul Pfeiffer, Mickalene Thomas and Sally Mann.
Brantley holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in art history from the University of Georgia. She was the first undergraduate there to receive a CURO Fellowship for a project at the Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts at the Georgia Museum of Art.
ICA Chattanooga is located in the Fine Arts Center on the UTC campus. Its mission is to foster creativity, discovery and community engagement through rotating exhibitions by regional, national and international artists.