MFAH’s Kanitra Fletcher Named National Gallery’s Associate Curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic Art

by Christopher Blay January 13, 2021
Kanitra Fletcher, Courtesy National Gallery of Art

Kanitra Fletcher. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art.

Announced today: Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s (MFAH) Associate Curator Kanitra Fletcher has been appointed Associate Curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic Art at The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C. She begins her new post on February 1, 2021.

Fletcher is one of four new staff members joining the National Gallery in the past few months, including Nick Sharp, the National Gallery’s new Chief Digital Officer; Mikka Gee Conway, Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer and EEO Director (as of September 2020); and Eric Bruce, who has been Head of Visitor Experience and Evaluation since August 2020.

Fletcher was also Curator of Landmarks Video at Landmarks, which is the public art program of the University of Texas at Austin, and will continue in that position. Fletcher was a curatorial assistant at the MFAH before being appointed Associate Curator where she oversaw the Tate’s traveling exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. Fletcher will oversee the upcoming 2021-2022 exhibition Afro-Atlantic Histories which will travel to both the MFAH and the National Gallery.

NGA Director, Kaywin Feldman, in a statement (via Culture Type Magazine) says: “I am thrilled to announce the appointment of these dynamic new leaders, who will help us to advance our goals to serve the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.”

****

Fletcher’s previous museum experience includes working at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Museum of Modern Art, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. She received a BA in English literature from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, an MA in Latin American studies, art history, and Brazilian studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD in the history of art from Cornell University.

4 comments

You may also like

4 comments

Caitlin D. January 14, 2021 - 11:05

Congrats Kanitra! You are such an asset to the MFAH with all of the work you have done there. So awesome you will be curating in DC for the whole nation!

Reply
Jennie Ash January 14, 2021 - 12:48

Huge congratulations Kanitra!!!!! Big loss for Houston but huge gain for DC, and excited for your next chapter!!!

Reply
Cylestine April 5, 2021 - 20:15

Congratulations Kanitra. So proud of you.! Your accomplishments are impressive. you’ve been able to achieve at such high levels at such a young age.
Keep it up young lady!

Reply
Uncle Vance Thornton April 5, 2021 - 20:22

Congratulations to my beautiful niece, I’m so proud of you

Reply

Leave a Comment

Funding generously provided by: