Chantel is a curator and lover of art & culture.

My career has taken me on a path from a commercial gallery setting to the museum and education field. Studying photography helped define an area of focus and remains a specialty in my curatorial practice. I began my career at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in La Jolla, CA where I was gallery director, working directly with photographers who captured the most iconic and intimate images we know of rock-n-roll and jazz musicians. This changed my life forever.

After six years working with the world’s most celebrated music photographers, I took an opportunity to work in the curatorial department of the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) in Balboa Park, San Diego. It was here, from 2010 - 2015, that I honed my craft as a curator and had the pleasure of working with an encyclopedic collection reaching as far back as Sir John Herschel and Nicéphore Niépce to contemporary artists such as Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, Danny Lyon, and Holly Roberts. This position and the opportunities that came with it expanded my view of photography and lens-based media. I enjoyed the experience of educating the public about an art form that was not only increasingly democratic, but one that had the ability to engage visitors of all ages. It was at MOPA that I realized my curatorial passion for storytelling and how art can be a tool for social change, critical thinking, and audience engagement beyond its aesthetic qualities.

From MOPA, I strategically pivoted to continue my work as a curator in the academic setting at San Diego State University (SDSU), where I am currently the gallery director for the University Art Gallery and oversee the Gallery Program in the School of Art and Design. Here, I welcome the opportunity to expand my practice beyond photography and lens-based work to include approaches to contemporary art in all media. I have made it a priority to engage with artists at all levels of their career, from emerging to well-established, connecting a diverse campus community and the regional population with renowned figures in contemporary art.

Recently curated exhibitions include Holding Time, Tracing Light: Rachel Phillips (2023), Constructed Mythologies: Luis González Palma (2019), We Are Here/Estamos Aquí (2017), and All Natural (2017). Prior to her current position, she was Assistant Curator at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) in San Diego, CA from 2010 - 2015, where her exhibition history included After Ansel Adams (2014), Staking Claim: A California Invitational (2013), which included an accompanying catalog, Kevin Cooley: Elements (2013).