![Iris Williamson](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/u917thx2/production/461130af78c704af2e53e4daaad32f4840dcb3f9-2400x1600.jpg?w=1800&h=1200&auto=format)
Iris Williamson (she/her) is a curator, arts administrator, and educator. She is the Founding Partner and Director of HOLDING Contemporary in Portland, OR. Most recently, Williamson directed and curated exhibitions and public programs at New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Southern Indiana (New Harmony/Evansville, IN), taught Contemporary Art Theory at Portland State University (Portland, OR), and was 2021-2022 Curator-in-Residence at the University of Oregon's Center for Artistic Research (Eugene, OR). Previous curatorial projects include enter:gallery (NYC), Dugg Dugg (Charlotte, NC), Southern Holiday (Charlotte, NC), and programming for the City of Charlotte, NC during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Williamson has held positions at institutional and commercial art spaces throughout Oregon, New York, and the South, including the roles of Program Director at Converge 45, Assistant Director and Curator at Pacific Northwest College of Art's Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, Studio Manager at Allied Works Architecture, and Associate Director at HAP Gallery. Williamson received an MA in Critical Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art, a BFA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Florida, and a certificate in Museum Studies from Northwestern University.