Heather Moqtaderi, MA
Heather Moqtaderi is an adjunct associate professor in the Museum Studies MA program.
Biography
Heather Moqtaderi is an arts leader and educator based in Philadelphia. She founded the nonprofit organization Past Present Projects, for which she collaborates with historic sites and collections on contemporary art exhibitions and programs. Exhibition partners have included Cape Henlopen State Park, in Lewes, Delaware, and the Hill-Physick House, the BOK Building, the historic Hatfield House in Fairmount Park, the Woodlands in West Philadelphia and the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion in Germantown, all of which are in Philadelphia. As part of this practice, Moqtaderi edits Past Present, a biannual journal of contemporary arts practices that intersect with historic spaces, material collections and cultural histories.
Previously, Moqtaderi worked for 10 years at the University of Pennsylvania, most recently as curator and assistant director of the Arthur Ross Gallery. In that role, she was responsible for organizing a robust schedule of three to four exhibitions per year, including regularly curating original exhibitions. In 2021, Moqtaderi curated Re-materialize, an exhibition featuring works in repurposed materials by El Anatsui, Shari Mendelson, Jackie Milad and Alison Saar. It was accompanied by a catalog. Additionally, Moqtaderi conceived and organized Citizen Salon, an exhibition that crowd-sourced the curatorial process, offering audience members agency in the making of the exhibition. Moqtaderi co-curated Landscape / Soundscape, a project that invited sound artists to compose responsive audio works paired with landscape photography from the University Art Collection, in 2016.
Moqtaderi has taught at the university level since 2010, when she began teaching design history at Drexel University. She has also taught in the Art History departments at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Earlier in her career, Moqtaderi served as a research assistant in the American Art Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has also worked as a modern design auction cataloger, a private collection manager, and an art conservation technician.
Experience
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Executive Program in Arts Strategy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia;
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Royal Oak Scholar, Attingham Summer School, England;
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MA, Winterthur Museum Program in American Material Culture, University of Delaware, Newark; and
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BA, English, University of Delaware.
Visit Heather Moqtaderi's Past Present Projects website.
Awards & Accolades
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Adjunct Faculty Award in Teaching Excellence, Drexel University, Philadelphia
