Ryan N. Dennis is Joining Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as Senior Curator and Director of Public Initiatives
CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM HOUSTON (CAMH) announced Ryan N. Dennis is joining its curatorial team as senior curator and director of public initiatives. The appointment is a homecoming. Dennis was born in Houston, educated at the University of Houston, where she has also taught, and spent more than half of her burgeoning curatorial career in...
President Biden Appointed Queens Museum Head Curator Lauren Haynes to White House Preservation Committee
PRESIDENT BIDEN APPOINTED 13 MEMBERS to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, including Lauren Haynes, director of curatorial affairs and programs at the Queens Museum in New York. The advisory committee is primarily composed of citizens selected by the President based on their expertise and scholarship in the areas of historic...
Gov. Gavin Newsom Appointed Dedicated LA Arts Patron Joy Simmons to California African American Museum Board of Directors
A LONGSTANDING PATRON OF THE ARTS, Dr. Virginia Joy Simmons, has joined the State Board of Directors at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles. Chartered by the State of California in 1977, CAAM is a state-funded museum. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Simmons to the non-compensated position on Dec. 22, 2022. “Simmons...
Birmingham Museum of Art Names Chantal Drake Deputy Director
THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART (BMA) announced Chantal Drake is joining the Alabama museum as James Milton and Sallie R. Johnson Deputy Director. The appointment is a homecoming of sorts. A native of Huntsville, Ala., Drake’s interest in museums was first sparked when she visited the Birmingham Museum of Art as a young girl and...
Michelle Commander: New Deputy Director of National Museum of African American History and Culture Joining Smithsonian From Schomburg Center
THE SMITHSONIAN’S National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) named a new deputy director on Jan. 10. Michelle Commander is joining the Washington, D.C., museum in the No. 2 role. She arrives from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where she served most recently as deputy...
Founding Deputy Director Kinshasha Holman Conwill Has Retired From Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
A MUSEUM LEADER and institution builder, Kinshasha Holman Conwill dedicated her entire career to being a faithful steward of art, history, and culture, establishing the background and experience necessary to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. Few get the chance to help envision and develop a monument to the African American experience, from ideas...
Taylor Jasper is Joining Walker Art Center as Assistant Curator of Visual Arts
IN MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., the Walker Art Center named Taylor Jasper assistant curator of visual arts. The appointment was announced Jan. 10. A member of a growing team in the Visual Arts department, Jasper’s portfolio will span exhibitions, acquisitions, artist projects, and public programming. She is joining the Walker from The Momentary, a contemporary art...
On the Rise: 27 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in Second Half of 2022
BLACK CURATORS AND ARTS LEADERS took on key roles at a variety of museums and arts institutions in the second half of 2022. Sean Decatur will be the next president of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), a world-renowned New York institution that welcomes about 5 million visitors a year. Announced early this...
Tsione Wolde-Michael Appointed Executive Director of President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities: After 5-Year Hiatus, PCAH is Getting Back to Work
IN WASHINGTON, D.C., the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is announcing a new leader today. Tsione Wolde-Michael has been appointed executive director of the committee. Engaging with artists, scholars, and cultural heritage leaders, PCAH strives to center the arts, humanities, and museum and library services in the civic and cultural...
Appointment: Courtney Willis Blair Will Lead White Cube Gallery in New York
IT’S NEARLY UNHEARD OF for a white-owned art gallery to offer a stake in the business to a Black dealer. Courtney Willis Blair was in rare company in January 2021 when she was named partner and senior director at Mitchell-Innes & Nash in New York. Willis Blair is continuing to break new ground in...
Michelle Jacques Appointed Board President of Association of Art Museum Curators, Three Black Women Will Hold Top Board Positions in 2023-24
Incoming Board President Michelle Jacques THE ASSOCIATION of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) & AAMC Foundation announced a new leadership team. Michelle Jacques has been appointed president of the board of trustees for a two-year term beginning Jan. 1. She brings more than two decades of experience in the field to her new role. Currently,...
On the Rise: 47 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in First Half of 2022
DOZENS OF BLACK CURATORS and arts leaders took on new appointments in the first half of 2022. Jenenne Whitfield will helm the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Md. Camille Ann Brewer recently assumed leadership of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in California. In London, Gilane Tawadros has been selected as the...
Anya Dani Appointed to New Getty-Funded Role at UCLA Where She Will Teach, Research, and Focus on Bringing More African Americans Into Conservation Field
IN LOS ANGELES, Anya Dani is joining the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in a newly created position: director of community engagement and inclusive practice. She will also serve as a lecturer in cultural heritage conservation. The appointment was announced June 16. The UCLA/Getty program is one of a handful...
New Appointments Announced at Studio Museum in Harlem, National Gallery of Canada, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Terra Foundation & More
SEVERAL ART INSTITUTIONS announced notable new curatorial and leadership appointments over the past month, including newly created roles at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Terra Foundation for American Art in Chicago: T. Camille Martin-Thomsen is incoming dean of faculty and vice president of academic affairs at The School of the Art...
In California, Elena Gross is Incoming Co-Director at Berkeley Art Center, Which Champions Bay Area Artists and Curators
IN BERKELEY, CALIF., Elena Gross is joining the Berkeley Art Center (BAC) as co-director. Gross brings eight years of experience working in the Bay Area arts community and a background that spans museums, culturally specific institutions, commercial galleries, independent nonprofits, and arts publications. Gross is currently director of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Museum...
Charmaine Jefferson Elected Board Chair at California Institute of the Arts, Where Charles Gaines Taught and Mark Bradford, Henry Taylor, and Lauren Halsey Earned Degrees
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS elected Charmaine Jefferson chair of its board of trustees. A veteran arts administrator, she has been a member of the board at CalArts since 2006. Her appointment is historic, Jefferson is the first Black person to lead the board since the school was founded more than half a century...
In New York, Public Art Fund Welcomes New Senior Curator: ‘Among Her Generation, Allison Glenn Has Emerged as a Leading Curatorial Voice’
THE NEXUS OF ART and community is central to the work of curator Allison Glenn. She is taking on a new role that will fuel that focus, bringing contemporary art to broader audiences through public art initiatives. After stints in New Orleans, Bentonville, Ark., and Houston, Glenn is headed to New York City where she...
Ndubuisi C. Ezeluomba Returns to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as Curator of African Art: ‘I Hope to Inspire an Appreciation for and Deeper Understanding of African Art’
THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (VMFA) named Ndubuisi C. Ezeluomba to the position of curator of African art. The appointment marks his return to the Richmond museum. From 2016-18, Ezeluomba was an Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Research Specialist in African Art at VMFA. Ezeluomba will be responsible for the museum’s African art collection,...
Erica Wall Will Lead Lunder Institute at Colby College Museum of Art in Maine
THE COLBY COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART announced the appointment Erica Wall. An arts leader with two decades of experience, she will serve as director of the Lunder Institute for American Art. Located in downtown Waterville, Me., the Lunder Institute was established in 2017 as the research and creative arm of the museum. Inviting artists,...
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Announced New Appointments Across Curatorial, Programming, and Diversity and Inclusion Teams
THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS OF SAN FRANCISCO (FAMSF) announced a slate of new staff members on May 5, including Abram Jackson, director of interpretation; Courtney Jones, manager of diversity and inclusion; Sarah Mackay, assistant curator, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts; and Devin Malone, director of public programs and community engagement. FAMSF is comprised of...
