On the Rise: 54 Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in 2020 – Culture Type

DESPITE TEMPORARY CLOSURES, severe financial losses, widespread layoffs, and racial reckonings at art museums and cultural institutions, dozens of Black curators were appointed to a variety of new posts this year. In a field where people of color have historically had limited access and remain underrepresented, this 2020 listing of curatorial and arts leadership appointments shows some progress. From San Francisco to St. Louis, New York and London, notable new hires were announced.

After leading the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, Kevin Young was named director of the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Terri Lee Freeman departed the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis to run the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, the longstanding director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, now helms the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Fla.

Black women are heading up daily museum operations at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. They are also leading the education department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and public programs at the forthcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.

Yesomi Umolu is joining The Serpentine in London as director of curatorial affairs and public practice, a newly created position. The San Francisco Art Commission hired Ralph Remington as director of cultural affairs. Courtney Willis Blair is now a partner at Mitchell-Innes & Nash in New York. A Black art dealer with a stake in a prominent White-owned commercial gallery is nearly unheard of in the United States.

Signs of the pandemic times are reflected in cancelled art fairs, postponed biennales, and open letters outlining pent up frustrations with toxic work environments at museums.

The Met is one of many American museums accused by staff in recent months of cultivating a deeply rooted culture of racism and white supremacy. The museums leadership responded with steps it planned to take to address diversity and racism issues, including hiring a chief diversity officer. Lavita McMath Turner was appointed to the position in November. Last week, the Saint Louis Art Museum announced Rene Brummell Franklin would serve as its chief diversity officer. Both are newly created positions.

Round ups of new appointments were published by Culture Type in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. A selection of 2020 curatorial and arts leader appointments follows (ordered by month, with no hirings included for May or August). The list is by no means comprehensive, but it is representative:

Zo Whitley. | Photo by James Gifford Mead

Chisenhale Gallery announced the appointment of Zo Whitley as director on Jan. 17. She had been serving as senior curator at Hayward Gallery since April 2019 and curated the British Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), presenting a solo show of Irish artist Cathy Wilkes. Previously, Whitley was curator of international art at Tate Modern, where she co-organized Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. She started at Chisenhale in March.

FIND MORE about Zoe Whitley curating the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale on Culture Type

Nicole Haas. | Photo by Ron Hester Photography

Nicole Haas was named chief of staff at Pratt Institute on Jan. 23. She works closely with Frances Bronet, president of the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art and design school, which counts artists Nina Chanel Abney, Mickalene Thomas, and Derrick Adams among its alumni. Since 2000, Haas had worked at Brooklyn College, serving in executive positions, including chief of staff. Previously, she worked at the City University of New York (CUNY), New York Public Interest Research Group, and for a private art dealer in Canada. Haas officially joined Pratt Feb. 24.

Corey Serrant. | Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries

In January, Corey Serrant joined the African American Art department at Swann Auction Galleries as administrator, working with consignors, collectors, and institutions. The two-member department is directed by Nigel Freeman and usually conducts two sales annually. Serrant previously worked as a gallery assistant at Salon 94 and Joshua Liner Gallery, and an archival intern at Jack Shainman Gallery, all in New York.

Lisa E. Farrington. | Courtesy Howard University

On Jan. 28, Howard University announced the appointment of Lisa E. Farrington as associate dean of the Division of Fine Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences. She arrived as the program prepares to become an independent College of Fine Arts. Farrington is the author of several books, including African American Art: A Visual and Cultural History and Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists. A Howard alum, she holds a Ph.D., in art history from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.

Niama Safia Sandy. | Photo by Florian Koenigsberger

Niama Safia Sandy was named director of curatorial affairs at Jenkins Johnson Gallery on Jan. 31. The Black-owned gallery was founded by Karen Jenkins Johnson in San Francisco and opened a second space in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2017. Sandys tenure at Jenkins Johnson New York concluded in May 2020. (In March, the gallery closed both its locations due to COVID-19. The temporary closure is ongoing in Brooklyn. Since June, the San Francisco space has been open by appointment.) A curator, writer, and musician, Sandy is a visiting professor of fine arts at Pratt Institute and curator-in-residence at Fridman Gallery in New York. She is also a member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, and The Blacksmiths, a coalition of creatives that just released new open-source racial equity tools.

FIND MORE about Niama Safia Sandy on Instagram

Vivian Crockett. | Photo by Naima Green

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) announced the appointment of Vivian Crockett as the Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art on Feb. 13. Crockett had been serving as the Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Previously, she was the Andrew W. Mellon Museum Research Consortium Fellow (2017-18) in the department of Media and Performance Art at the Museum of Modern Art. At the DMA, she co-curated To Be Determined and commissioned two paintings by artist Jammie Holmes for the exhibition. Crockett began her new role March 9.

FIND MORE about Vivian Crockett on her website

Deanna Haggag. | Courtesy Deanna Haggag

Deana Haggag was appointed artistic director of the Seattle Art Fair on Feb. 18, a role that involves overseeing the special projects and talks program and helping to select the galleries that will participate in the fair. Haggag is president and CEO of United States Artists, which provides funding support to individual artists and cultural practitioners. The Seattle Art Fair was scheduled to take place July 23-26, 2020. Two months after Haggags appointment was announced the fair was canceled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIND MORE about Deana Haggag on her website

Adrienne L. Childs. | Courtesy Adrienne L. Childs

Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition opened Feb. 29 at the Phillips Collection. The exhibition is guest curated by Adrienne L. Childs. According to the museum, she is the first Black curator to organize an exhibition at The Phillips Collection since its founding a century ago. An independent art historian and curator, Childs is an associate of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. In Riffs and Relations, she brings together modern and contemporary works by African American artists with early 20th century works by European artists. Childs edited the exhibition catalog and is the author of the forthcoming volume, Ornamental Blackness: The Black Body in European Decorative Arts.

FIND MORE about Adrienne L. Childs on her website

Steven Nelson. | 2020 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington

On March 6, Steven Nelson was named dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. CASVA is a research institute that fosters study of the production, use, and cultural meaning of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film worldwide from prehistoric times to the present. The appointment is historic. Nelson is the first non-white executive officer at the museum. On leave from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a longtime professor of African and African American art history and director of the UCLA African Studies Center, Nelson was serving as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at CASVA (20182020) when he was appointed dean. His tenure began in July.

FIND MORE about Steven Nelson on his website

Ryan N. Dennis at Marron (Tony) Park in Houston, her favorite neighborhood park (March 1, 2019). | Photo by Naima Green

The Mississippi Museum of Art named Ryan N. Dennis chief curator and artistic director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange (CAPE) on March 10. She will lead the museums curatorial team, organizing exhibitions and related public programming and overseeing acquisitions. She is also charged with initiating new ways to connect with and expand the museums audiences. Dennis joins the museum from Project Row Houses in Houston, where she had been curator and programs director since 2017. In October 2019, she was named co-curator and co-creative director with Evan Garza of the 2020 Texas Biennial, which was expected to take place in Austin. In late March, the biennial was postponed to 2021, due to COVID-19. Dennis began her new role at the Mississippi museum in June.

FIND MORE about Ryan N. Dennis on her website

Larry Ossei-Mensah. | Photo by Aaron Ramey

Independent curator Larry Ossei-Mensah was named co-curator of the 2020 Athens Biennale on March 10. Titled ECLIPSE, the biennale was scheduled for Sept. 25-Nov. 29, 2020. Artists based in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, were expected to participate, many showing in Greece for the first time. In June, the international exhibition was postponed until spring 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ossei-Mensah is co-founder and president of ARTNOIR, a New York-based global collective that develops collaborative platforms and designs cultural experiences for a new generation of creatives. Recently, he was elevated from guest curator to curator-at-large at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Ossei-Mensahs latest project is PARALLELS AND PERIPHERIES: Fractals and Fragments, a group show he curated at Galleria Anna Marra in Rome, Italy.

FIND MORE about Larry Ossei-Mensah on Instagram

Lauren Haynes. | Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum

On March 18, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced a promotion and added responsibilities for Lauren Haynes. She is now director of artist initiatives and curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, the museums satellite contemporary art space in downtown Bentonville. Her previous title was curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and curator of visual arts for The Momentary. Prior to joining Crystal Bridges, Haynes spent a decade at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

FIND MORE about Lauren Haynes on Instagram

Jaynelle Hazard. | Photo by Prathibha Polapragada

The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) appointed Jaynelle Hazard executive director and curator. The news was announced March 20. She started in April. Hazard joins GRACE from Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Va., where she was director of exhibitions. Previously, Hazard served as art collection administrator for the UBS art collection in New York. She has also worked at Blank Projects, an art gallery in Cape Town, South Africa.

FIND MORE about Jaynelle Hazard on her website

Meme Omogbai. | Courtesy College Art Association

Meme Omogbai has been appointed executive director and CEO of the College Art Association (CAA). The news was announced March 30. CAA is the oldest and largest U.S. organization dedicated to professionals in the visual arts, focusing on scholarship and career development for students and art historians. Omogbai brings extensive leadership and management experience to CAA. She was the first black chair of the American Alliance of Museums, and also served as board chair of the New Jersey Historic Trust and COO of the Newark Museum in New Jersey. She studied global museum executive leadership at the J. Paul Getty Trust Museum Leadership Institute and also served on the faculty at the institute. Omogbai officially started at CAA on March 30.

Johnnetta Betsch Cole. | Photo by Boston Photography

On April 23, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announced Johnnetta Betsch Cole would serve as special counsel on strategic initiatives. She will provide strategic guidance to the board, director, and senior staff as the museum continues to center social equity and civic engagement in its long-term vision and all aspects of its programming. Cole has had an expansive career in higher education, the museum sector, and diversity leadership. She is national chair of the National Council of Negro Women and recently retired from Cook Ross, a firm that advises organizations on diversity and inclusion initiatives, where she served as a principal consultant. She was director of the Smithsonians National Museum of African Art from 2009-17. During her tenure, she served a term as president of the Association of Art Museum Directors (2015-16). Earlier in her career, Cole was the first Black female president of Spelman College in Atlanta (1987-1997) and later served as president of Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C. (2002-07). Both are African American womens colleges. Cole is working with BMA for three years on a pro-bono basis.

Christine Checinska. | Photo via TEDx

Christine Checinska joined the Victoria & Albert Museum in June. She is the museums first curator of African and African diaspora fashion. A womenswear designer and art historian, she works at the intersection of contemporary art, fashion, and textiles. Checinska is a research associate at the University of Johannesburgs Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD) Research Center and a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London. A few years ago, she gave a TEDx Talk about how she sees fashion as a way of pushing back against stereotypes and resisting limitations.

FIND MORE about Christine Checinska on Instagram

Yvette Mutumba. | Photo by Benjamin Renter, Courtesy Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Yvette Mutumba was named curator-at-large for the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on June 8. An editor, curator, and educator, Mutumba is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Contemporary And (C&) and Contemporary And Amrica Latina (C&AL), dynamic platforms focused on contemporary art throughout Africa and the global diaspora. Stedelijk described the appointment as part of the museums strategy to question its own established knowledge and engage with a multiplicity of narratives that transcend Western European modernism, and thus examine the museums own foundations.

Maya Brooks. | Courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

Maya Brooks joined the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) as Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator in June. The newly created role was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The appointment of Brooks was shared on Dec. 15, when the museum announced seven new hires made during 2020. Brooks previously worked for the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, N.C.; the City of Greensboro; and the North Carolina Collection Gallery in Chapel Hill. She also interned at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

FIND MORE about Maya Brooks on her website

Janice Bond. | Photo by Collete Presley

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On the Rise: 54 Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in 2020 - Culture Type