Gloria Ferreira
The Casa de la Cultura Laura Alvim recently announced the appointment of curator Gloria Ferreira (Rio de Janeiro) as the new curator of its cultural center. Gloria Ferreira completed a PhD in Art History, is an art critic and independent curator. She is also a professor at the Universidad EBA/UFRJ, in Rio de Janeiro. She has co-edited the publications Clement Greenberg y el Debate Crítico (Clement Greenberg and the Critical Debate, 1997), and Escritos de Artistas 1960/1970 [Writings by Artists 1960/1970 (2006)]. Ferreira coordinated a compilation of art criticism texts in Brazil: Temáticas Contemporáneas (Contemporary Themes, 2006) and Arte Contemporáneo Brasileño: Documentos y Textos Críticos (Brazilian Contemporary Art: Documents and Critical Texts, 2009). She published the book Entrefalas (Between Lines, 2009). Her expertise centers on the theory of art, art criticism and photography.
The cultural center was named after its founder, Laura Alvim (1900-1984), the granddaughter of Angelo Angostini, a painter who later on developed a second career as a cartoonist. A Cultural promoter in Rio de Janeiro who is passionate about theater, Alvim transformed her family property into a theater. When she turned 83 years old, Alvim donated the property to Funari (Fundación de las Artes de Río de Janeiro), with the condition that the space would become a theater or a cultural cultural. Laura Alvim died in March of 1984, three months after fulfilling her dream. For the inauguration in 1986, artists like Daniel Senise, Carlos Scliar, Rubens Gerchman and Angelo de Aquino, created large unframed canvases that were exhibited along the entrance and that they donated to the venue, thus starting the collection.
Located in front of Ipanema Beach, and surrounded by movie theaters, theaters, art galleries and museums, the space is one of the most important cultural centers in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It currently belongs to the Ministry of Culture. More information is available at: http://www.cultura.rj.gov.br/espaco/casa-de-cultura-laura-alvim
