Kelly McChesney, the director of Lump, has announced that she is stepping down from that position this month to become the public art director at the Office of Raleigh Arts.
“I will continue to be an active figure during this time of transition and will support Lump’s goals and vision into the future,” McChesney said in a press release. “I feel privileged to be a part of the Lump team and to help build upon the foundation that was created over the past twenty-one years by Bill Thelen, Med Byrd, and so many exceptional national and international artists.”
McChesney retired the gallery she founded, Flanders Gallery, to become director of Lump around the beginning of 2017, when cofounder and long-time director Bill Thelen decided to step down after two decades. She earned an Indies Arts Award for her efforts in keeping a Raleigh art-scene landmark open.
McChesney will be replaced as director of Lump by April Childers, an artist, a curator, and the codirector of LOG (Low Occupancy Gallery). Artist Conner Calhoun will become Lump’s special programming coordinator. (Read the INDY‘s 2017 story on LOG here.)
Under the new leadership, Lump plans to continue existing programs while launching new ones, including a publication called Blount Force. Keep an eye on the INDY‘s pages for an upcoming story on McChesney’s plans for public art in Raleigh and Childers’s plan for Lump.