Prihodova named Dowd Gallery director

08/27/2019 

Jaroslava Prihodova was appointed Aug. 1 as director of the Dowd Gallery at SUNY Cortland.

The assistant to the gallery director since 2010 and later named preparator, Prihodova held the role until August 2017, when she was named interim director.

In her interim appointment, Prihodova produced programs and exhibitions designed to appeal to a diverse audience while sustaining the educational mission of the gallery and SUNY Cortland.

A practicing artist, she also has worked as an adjunct instructor in the School of Art at Syracuse University.

Prihodova earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2002 from the College of Art and Design at the Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in the Czech Republic. She received her Master of Fine Arts in 2016 from Syracuse University.

As director, she aims to continue to advance programming by introducing interdisciplinary projects engaging regionally and internationally renowned artists from the United States and abroad.

“My primary focus is to develop and curate impactful exhibitions that reflect and honor the diversity of thoughts, art concepts and people who create them,” Prihodova said.

Dowd Gallery is expanding open hours of the main gallery exhibition space by one hour daily, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays except Thursdays, when the gallery will remain open until 7 p.m.

Under her leadership, the gallery also soon will launch a new website feature that enables visitors to help Dowd achieve its annual goal to raise 50 percent of its budget by making a financial donation online.

Dowd Gallery has just partnered with the Cultural Council of Cortland County to participate in the First Fridays project, committing the gallery to open its doors during this monthly county-wide artist open house. Dowd begins participating from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6.