New curatorial role

New Zealand-born Helen Klisser During (right) is the new director of visual arts at Westport Arts Center in Connecticut. Weston-based Klisser During, who moved to the United States in 1985, grew up working in her family’s bakery, the renowned Vogel’s, and was a member of the New Zealand national ski team. As director at the Center, a visual and performing arts organization, which showcases contemporary art, Klisser During is, amongst other roles, responsible for curating three to four themed exhibitions a year. Klisser During has deep contacts in the New York art world and elsewhere, and in curating art shows. She says: “I am not interested in being provincial, showing the same old, same old. Shows need to be juried and themed; we need to treasure what is strong locally, but also bring in artists from outside the area and be elegant and sophisticated in what we’re doing so that viewers leave enlightened and engaged.”