Job title:
Former Executive Director of Southern Exposure, Organizer, Arts Advocate, Curator, Writer
Bio/CV:
Courtney Fink (she/her) works in the expanded field of nonprofit leadership as a steadfast champion of visual artists and the organizations that center and support them. Her hybrid practice merges creative process with strategic implementation and is informed by responsive open source frameworks as models for exchange, connection, collaboration, and shared experience. Fink’s mission is to establish equitable access to ideas and projects in which artists and experimental platforms are positioned to manifest social change.
For 30 years Courtney has employed a spirit of openness and generosity to draw national attention to and build capacity in the visual arts, passionately advocating for the role of creative expression in broader cultural contexts.
As co-founder and executive director of Common Field she fostered a national network of independent visual arts organizations and organizers that connected, supported, and advocated for the artist-centered field. During her tenure, Common Field built a movement involving more than 1,000 organizations and organizers. They incorporated as a 501c3, created a core structure, and secured long-term funding. Collectively they organized convenings in Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Houston and created a responsive, resource-based program model.
During her thirteen years as executive director of Southern Exposure, a nonprofit in San Francisco founded in 1974 dedicated to supporting visual artists, she transformed the organization into a nationally recognized model, developed a Mission District building to serve as its stable home, and realized its first ever comprehensive capital campaign. By implementing adventurous curatorial and public programming strategies, she supported the development of more than 500 projects, events, and exhibitions and established SoEx Off-Site, the organization's public art initiative.
Fink has also worked in the philanthropy sector to positively impact artists and arts organizations. In her leadership role at Southern Exposure, she founded the Alternative Exposure Grant Program in partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, laying the groundwork for the Foundation’s national Regional Regranting Program, now established with partners in 35 cities across the US and granting $2 million annually. She also served on the Warhol Foundation’s Board of Directors for eight years. She served on the founding Board of Directors of the Seed Fund, and was a consulting advisor to the Kenneth Rainin Foundation in Oakland to establish and pilot the Open Spaces grant program as well as the Exploring Public Art Practices Symposium.
Fink has also held vital positions at California College of the Arts and Capp Street Project in San Francisco. Openly sharing her experiences with diverse audiences, she lectures nationally and internationally and juries a myriad of grant and program opportunities including Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Harpo Foundation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission; serves as a regular nominator for artist funding programs including The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation; and consults with organizations that provide support to artists.
Originally from Los Angeles, CA, Fink holds a BA in art history and fine arts from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. She lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 21 years and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
For 30 years Courtney has employed a spirit of openness and generosity to draw national attention to and build capacity in the visual arts, passionately advocating for the role of creative expression in broader cultural contexts.
As co-founder and executive director of Common Field she fostered a national network of independent visual arts organizations and organizers that connected, supported, and advocated for the artist-centered field. During her tenure, Common Field built a movement involving more than 1,000 organizations and organizers. They incorporated as a 501c3, created a core structure, and secured long-term funding. Collectively they organized convenings in Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Houston and created a responsive, resource-based program model.
During her thirteen years as executive director of Southern Exposure, a nonprofit in San Francisco founded in 1974 dedicated to supporting visual artists, she transformed the organization into a nationally recognized model, developed a Mission District building to serve as its stable home, and realized its first ever comprehensive capital campaign. By implementing adventurous curatorial and public programming strategies, she supported the development of more than 500 projects, events, and exhibitions and established SoEx Off-Site, the organization's public art initiative.
Fink has also worked in the philanthropy sector to positively impact artists and arts organizations. In her leadership role at Southern Exposure, she founded the Alternative Exposure Grant Program in partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, laying the groundwork for the Foundation’s national Regional Regranting Program, now established with partners in 35 cities across the US and granting $2 million annually. She also served on the Warhol Foundation’s Board of Directors for eight years. She served on the founding Board of Directors of the Seed Fund, and was a consulting advisor to the Kenneth Rainin Foundation in Oakland to establish and pilot the Open Spaces grant program as well as the Exploring Public Art Practices Symposium.
Fink has also held vital positions at California College of the Arts and Capp Street Project in San Francisco. Openly sharing her experiences with diverse audiences, she lectures nationally and internationally and juries a myriad of grant and program opportunities including Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Harpo Foundation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission; serves as a regular nominator for artist funding programs including The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation; and consults with organizations that provide support to artists.
Originally from Los Angeles, CA, Fink holds a BA in art history and fine arts from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. She lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 21 years and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
Role: