Lisa Dorin has been appointed the new deputy director for curatorial affairs at The Williams College Museum of Art starting March 4.

An alumna of the Williams graduate art history program and a former assistant curator there, she is currently the associate curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dorin graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s degree in art history and studio art and received her master’s degree from Williams in 1998. She has been associated with the Art Institute of Chicago since 2005, where she was initially hired as the assistant curator of contemporary art. Dorin has extensive experience working with new media and living artists. At the AIC, she curates the acclaimed focus exhibition series that presents emerging artists in solo shows. Recent focus projects have featured artists Monica Bonvicini, Richard Hawkins, Sharon Hayes, and William Pope.L.

The Williams College Museum of Art, which houses more than 13,000 works of art, is widely considered one of the finest college art museums in the country.

For more information, go to http://www.williams.edu.

— Azra Haqqie

The Arts Center of the Capital Region announced today that Royah Ansari is the new Director of Arts in the Community.

In her new role she will work to create community programming and administer the regrants and scholarship programs.

An RPI graduate and a fan of Troy, Ansari touted up the city and its arts scene in a 2008 Times Union article about young professionals. In response to the question “Where do you go in the area to see beauty?” She said, “The Troy Night Out After Party. It’s a perfect example of why I love the area. It’s all different types of people, all ages having a great time, socializing, smiling. It’s something beautiful happening organically.”

Here are more details from the Arts Center:

Ansari received her BS in Management and Marketing and her MBA with a concentration in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She has most recently worked as a business consultant for a number of local businesses, including Dark Sky Company, the Troy BID, and Agora Games. Ansari was also a Project Manager and Producer at Agora Games in Troy; a Marketing and Sales Director for Groff Networks in Troy; Manager of the electronic arts series “iEAR presents!” at RPI; and the Founder and Co-Owner of the Shake Shake Mamas Café, also in Troy.

Ansari will be an integral part in growing The Arts Center’s community arts programming and expanding the organization’s presence in the region. She will manage all contract service and arts in education programming with community groups and schools. In addition, she will lead the upcoming design and creative thinking programs and oversee the re-grants and scholarship programs.