HOUSTON, TX.- DiverseWorks announced that on February 16, 2016, Reyes Ramirez will begin as DiverseWorks new Outreach and Public Engagement Cultivator. In this new role, Ramirez will help to expand, diversify, and enhance the experiences of audiences for contemporary, multi-disciplinary art. He will be working closely with staff on developing and implementing new outreach initiatives, including a DW Teens program, and more focused education and audience cultivation for DiverseWorks’ exhibitions, performances, public programs, and other events.

Ramirez comes to DiverseWorks with a background in creative writing, publicity and community outreach. A native of Houston, Ramirez holds a B.A. from the University of Houston, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Texas State University, and received a Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard University’s Latino Leadership Initiative. He has taught at area schools and universities and worked with a number of other non-profit organizations including at City ArtWorks and FreshArts. He served as co-managing editor for Front Porch Journal at TSU, and, since 2013, has served as the area coordinator for Barrio Writers.

DiverseWorks also announced two other, much deserved promotions at DiverseWorks: Rachel Cook has been promoted from Associate Curator to Curator and Taylor Hoblitzell has been promoted from Gallery Manager and Events Coordinator to Exhibition and Program Coordinator.

Cook joined DiverseWorks as Assistant Curator in 2012 and was named Associate Curator in 2013. She holds a M.A. from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College and a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. She recently received a Curatorial Fellowship from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to research Walker Evans’ photographs from the African Negro Art exhibition at MoMA in 1935. While at DiverseWorks she has organized commissions of new work by Wu Tsang, Chelsea Knight and Mark Tribe, Liz Magic Laser, Heather and Ivan Morison, and Oliver Herring, along with performance projects by Dean Moss and Tahni Holt, among others. Most recently she curated the group exhibition What Shall We Do Next?, on view at DiverseWorks through March 19, 2016.

Hoblitzell was a DiverseWorks Curatorial Intern in 2014. At the conclusion of her internship, she was hired as Visitor Services Associate, and in January 2015 was promoted to Gallery Manager and Events Coordinator. As Exhibition and Program Coordinator she is responsible for managing all installation and production details for DiverseWorks’ exhibtions and performances. She holds a B.F.A. with a concentration in sculpture and a M.A. in critical and curatorial studies, both from the Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.