Naomi Beckwith

Naomi Beckwith

Naomi Beckwith is the Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where her exhibition and book projects focus on the impact of identity and multi-disciplinary practices for shaping contemporary art. Prior to the MCA, Beckwith held positions at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her numerous exhibitions include The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now and 30 Seconds off an Inch, both considering the persistent resonance of black cultural practices across contemporary art internationally. She has been an early champion of such rising artists as Rashid Johnson, Jimmy Robert, Keren Cytter, The Propeller Group, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Beckwith has contributed to numerous publications and served on the jury of the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. She holds a BA in History from Northwestern University and an MA with Distinction from the Courtauld Institute in London.

Articles Related to Naomi Beckwith

2017 Fellowship_Composite Image (JPG)

2016-11-03

Center for Curatorial Leadership Announces 2017 Fellows

Twelve Curators Announced for Tenth Annual Intensive Training Program The Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL) has announced its tenth class of curatorial fellows as the organization celebrates one decade of training prepared and inspired museum leaders. The 2017 class includes twelve esteemed curators from across North America and signals the ... Read More >

2017 Fellowship_Group Photo (JPG)

2017-02-09

Program Highlights | CCL Concludes January Session of Its Tenth Annual Leadership Fellowship

Highlights from the two-week January intensive of the Center for Curatorial Leadership For two weeks in January, the Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL) hosted its tenth class of Fellows for their leadership intensive in New York City. A cohort of twelve curators from institutions across North America came together for ... Read More >

2017 Fellowship_May Intensive 001 (JPG)

2017-06-01

Program Highlights | The Tenth Annual CCL Fellowship Concludes in NYC

Highlights from the concluding weeklong intensive of the Center for Curatorial Leadership The Center for Curatorial Leadership’s (CCL) 2017 Fellows convened this May for a one-week intensive in New York City. As a culmination of their five months in the fellowship, these twelve inspired curators participated in a targeted selection ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2018-08-13

Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017) promoted to Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

We're thrilled for Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017), who has been promoted to Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Naomi completed the CCL Fellowship last year, where she participated in CCL's signature curriculum and received mentorship from Adam Weinberg at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Most recently, she ... Read More >

2017-04-11

VIA Art Fund Names Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017) its inaugural Curatorial Fellowship Grantee

We're thrilled to learn that VIA Art Fund has named Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017) its inaugural Curatorial Fellowship Grantee! Designed to "support visionary curators by providing discretionary funds for exhibition research, travel, or the general development of the curator’s area of inquiry," the fellowship will enable Naomi to travel throughout northern Africa ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2019-08-20

Amy Landau Named Director of Education and Interpretation at the Fowler Museum at UCLA

Amy Landau (CCL 2017) has been named the Director of Education and Interpretation at the Fowler Museum at UCLA! Landau has served as Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Islamic and South & Southeast Asian Art at the Walters Art Museum since 2009. While at the Walters, Landau curated Pearls on a ... Read More >

2020-01-27

ELYSE A. GONZALES (CCL 2017) APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF THE NEWLY-OPENED RUBY CITY IN SAN ANTONIO

Elyse A. Gonzales (CCL 2017) has been named Director of Ruby City, the contemporary art center that opened in October 2019. Ruby City houses the collection of the late artist and philanthropist Linda Pace in a David Adjaye-designed building in San Antonio, Texas.  Gonzales joins Ruby City from the University ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2020-02-27

William Keyse Rudolph (CCL 2017) Named Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

William Keyse Rudolph (CCL 2017) has been named Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Rudolph joins the Nelson-Atkins from the San Antonio Museum of Art, where he served as the co-interim director and the Andrew W. Mellon Chief Curator and Marie and Hugh Halff Curator ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2020-01-27

Elyse A. Gonzales (CCL 2017) Appointed Director of the Recently-Opened Ruby City in San Antonio

Elyse A. Gonzales (CCL 2017) has been named Director of Ruby City, the contemporary art center that opened in October 2019. Ruby City houses the collection of the late artist and philanthropist Linda Pace in a David Adjaye-designed building in San Antonio, Texas. Gonzales joins Ruby City from the University ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2021-01-14

Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017) named Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Guggenheim

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has named Naomi Beckwith (CCL 2017) Deputy Director and Chief Curator! Naomi has been at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago since 2011, most recently as Senior Curator. Prior to the MCA, Naomi was an associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her numerous exhibitions include The ... Read More >

Core Advancement

2021-01-28

Sarah Meister (CCL 2017, MoMA ICI 2016) named Executive Director of the Aperture Foundation

Sarah Meister (CCL 2017, MoMA ICI 2016) has been named Executive Director of the Aperture Foundation! Sarah Meister has been at The Museum of Modern Art since 1997 and became a Curator in the Department of Photography in 2009. She is the lead instructor for the online course Seeing Through Photographs on Coursera, ... Read More >