Former Dayton Art Institute curator named executive director of Cincinnati’s FotoFocus

FotoFocus, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit dedicated to championing photography and lens-based art, has selected Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth as its new executive director. She will succeed founding executive director Mary Ellen Goeke, who is retiring at the end of 2022.

Siegwarth, who will assume leadership in January 2023, joined FotoFocus in late 2021 as biennial director, serving as a liaison for over 100 participating venues and helping bring many exhibitions to life. She previously served as the Dayton Art Institute’s Kettering Curator of Photography and Special Projects, curating such exhibitions as “Ravaged Sublime: Contemporary Landscape Photography in the 21st Century” and “Archiving Eden: Dornith Doherthy Photographs.” She has also served as assistant director of Zhulong Gallery, Luce Curatorial Fellow of Photography at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and held positions at the Center for Creative Photography. She holds an MA from The University of Arizona and is an alumna of the Museum Leadership Institute’s NexGen 2020 Executive Education for the Next Generation of Museum Leaders program.

Credit: JACOB DRABIK

Founded in 2010, FotoFocus plans to build a new center for photography and lens-based art in Cincinnati. Over the past 12 years, Goeke grew the organization from a grassroots collective of photography supporters to an organization offering year-round, public-facing programs and collaborations with internationally-acclaimed artists and curators, according to a release.

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“Mary Ellen instilled a sense of collaboration that has allowed FotoFocus to remain remarkably agile through its growth over the past 12 years,” said FotoFocus Board President Maureen France. “She has been an exceptional leader who has dedicated herself to this organization. Thanks to her curiousity and responsiveness to the expanding field of photography, FotoFocus has steadily increased its regional, national and international presence. On behalf of the Board and Staff, I am thrilled to welcome Katherine in taking the reins after directing the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial, and excited for her to carry on Mary Ellen’s legacy.”

“It has been a pleasure serving under Mary Ellen for the last year and I am honored by the opportunity to lead the next chapter of this remarkable organization,” said Siegwarth. “I look forward to working collaboratively with my colleagues at FotoFocus and with our regional partners as we develop future Biennials and envision year-round programming with the creation of the FotoFocus Center.”

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FotoFocus is located at 214 14th St E, Cincinnati. For more information, visit www.fotofocuscincinnati.org.

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About the Author

Russell Florence Jr.

Russell Florence Jr. is team leader/coordinator of Lifestyles/Dayton.com. He has been an arts/lifestyles reporter for Dayton Daily News since 2012. He formerly served on the Dayton Daily News Community Board of Contributors and assisted the Dayton Daily News Editorial Board. He received his BA in mass communications from Wright State University.