Thelma Golden
Encyclopedia
Thelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City
, USA. Golden joined the Museum as Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs in 2000 before succeeding Dr Lowery Stokes Sims
, the Museum’s former Director and President, in 2005.
. She earned a BA in Art History and African-American Studies from Smith College
in 1987.
from 1988 to 1998. She rose quickly through the ranks of the Whitney’s curatorial staff and organized many notable exhibitions, including the watershed 1993 Biennial, directed by Elisabeth Sussman; Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary Art (1994–95); Bob Thompson
: A Retrospective (1998); Heart, Mind, Body, Soul: New Work from the Collection (1998); and Hindsight: Recent Work from the Permanent Collection (1999).
Known for her support and championship of emerging artists, Golden created a site-specific commissioning program for the Whitney’s branch museum at Altria (formerly Philip Morris), and presented projects there by artists such as Alison Saar
, Glenn Ligon
, Gary Simmons (artist)
, Romare Bearden
, Matthew McCaslin
, Suzanne McClelland, Lorna Simpson
, Jacob Lawrence
and Leone & MacDonald.
Golden was the Special Projects Curator for renowned contemporary art collectors Peter Norton
and Eileen Harris Norton from 1998 to 2000.
Since joining the Studio Museum in 2000, Golden has organized a number of groundbreaking exhibitions, including Isaac Julien
: Vagabondia (2000), Martin Puryear
: The Cane Project (2000); Glenn Ligon
: Stranger (2001); Freestyle (2001); Black Romantic: The Figurative Impulse in Contemporary Art (2002); harlemworld: Metropolis as Metaphor (2004); Chris Ofili
: Afro Muses (2005); Frequency (2005–06, with Christine Y. Kim); Africa Comics (2006–07); and Kori Newkirk: 1997–2007 (2007–08). She also works to expand and strengthen the museum’s presence in the local community and the global art world.
Golden is an active guest curator, writer, lecturer, juror, and advisor. In 2008 she was a member of the advisory team of the Whitney Biennial
and in 2007 acted as a juror for the UK Turner Prize
. Golden co-curated the traveling exhibition Glenn Ligon: Some Changes in 2005 and in 2004 curated a retrospective of fashion designer Patrick Kelly
at the Brooklyn Museum
. Celebrated for her insightful interviews with contemporary artists, Golden is a frequent contributor to books, catalogues, and magazines and regularly speaks at institutions around the world as well as teaching at various universities. Golden serves on the Graduate Committee at the Center for Curatorial Studies
at Bard College
, is on the boards of Creative Time
in New York and the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in London
, and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA. Golden joined the Museum as Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs in 2000 before succeeding Dr Lowery Stokes Sims
Lowery Stokes Sims
Lowery Stokes Sims is Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design. From 2000-2007 Sims was executive director then president of The Studio Museum in Harlem and served as Adjunct Curator for the Permanent Collection. Sims was on the education and curatorial staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from...
, the Museum’s former Director and President, in 2005.
Early life and education
Thelma Golden grew up in Queens, New York. She had her first hands-on training as a senior in high school at the New Lincoln School, training as a curatorial apprentice at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. She earned a BA in Art History and African-American Studies from Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
in 1987.
Career
Golden's first curatorial position was at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1987. She was then a curator at the Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
from 1988 to 1998. She rose quickly through the ranks of the Whitney’s curatorial staff and organized many notable exhibitions, including the watershed 1993 Biennial, directed by Elisabeth Sussman; Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary Art (1994–95); Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson (painter)
Bob Thompson was an African-American figurative painter known for his bold and colorful canvases, whose compositions were appropriated from the Old Masters. He was very prolific in his eight-year career, producing over 1000 works before his death in Rome, Italy in 1966. The Whitney Museum in New...
: A Retrospective (1998); Heart, Mind, Body, Soul: New Work from the Collection (1998); and Hindsight: Recent Work from the Permanent Collection (1999).
Known for her support and championship of emerging artists, Golden created a site-specific commissioning program for the Whitney’s branch museum at Altria (formerly Philip Morris), and presented projects there by artists such as Alison Saar
Alison Saar
Alison Saar is an American artist who was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Laurel Canyon, California. Her parents were Betye Saar, a well-known African American artist, and Richard Saar, an art conservationist. Both parents encouraged their three daughters, all artists, to look at...
, Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity. He engages in intertextuality with other works from the visual arts, literature, and history, as well as his own life.-Early life and career:...
, Gary Simmons (artist)
Gary Simmons (artist)
-Work and Exhibitions:Using icons and stereotypes of American popular culture, Gary Simmons creates works that address personal and collective experiences of race and class...
, Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden was an African American artist and writer. He worked in several media including cartoons, oils, and collage.-Education:...
, Matthew McCaslin
Matthew McCaslin
Matthew McCaslin is an American artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His work deals with the intersection of nature and technology, combining everyday construction materials or consumer electronics in a way that may invoke chaos or disorder, or formalism and...
, Suzanne McClelland, Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson is an African American artist and photographer who made her name in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as Guarded Conditions and Square Deal. Her work often portrays black women combined with text to express contemporary society's relationship with race, ethnicity and sex...
, Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", though by his own account the primary influence was not so much French art as the shapes and colors of Harlem.Lawrence is among the best-known twentieth...
and Leone & MacDonald.
Golden was the Special Projects Curator for renowned contemporary art collectors Peter Norton
Peter Norton
Peter Norton is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name. Norton sold his PC-Software business to Symantec Corporation in 1990....
and Eileen Harris Norton from 1998 to 2000.
Since joining the Studio Museum in 2000, Golden has organized a number of groundbreaking exhibitions, including Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien is an installation artist and filmmaker.-Biography:Julien graduated from St Martin's School of Art in 1985, where he studied painting and fine art film...
: Vagabondia (2000), Martin Puryear
Martin Puryear
Martin Puryear is an African American sculptor. He works in media including wood, stone, tar, and wire, and his work is a union of minimalism and traditional crafts.-Life:...
: The Cane Project (2000); Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity. He engages in intertextuality with other works from the visual arts, literature, and history, as well as his own life.-Early life and career:...
: Stranger (2001); Freestyle (2001); Black Romantic: The Figurative Impulse in Contemporary Art (2002); harlemworld: Metropolis as Metaphor (2004); Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...
: Afro Muses (2005); Frequency (2005–06, with Christine Y. Kim); Africa Comics (2006–07); and Kori Newkirk: 1997–2007 (2007–08). She also works to expand and strengthen the museum’s presence in the local community and the global art world.
Golden is an active guest curator, writer, lecturer, juror, and advisor. In 2008 she was a member of the advisory team of the Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
and in 2007 acted as a juror for the UK Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
. Golden co-curated the traveling exhibition Glenn Ligon: Some Changes in 2005 and in 2004 curated a retrospective of fashion designer Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly (fashion designer)
Patrick Kelly was a Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. born. Kelly studied art at Jackson University and than attended Parsons DesignNYC. While living in Atlanta Kelly sold recycled clothes and working with out pay at Yves Saint Laurent chairman Pierre Bergé, who later in 1988, sponsored Kelly...
at the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
. Celebrated for her insightful interviews with contemporary artists, Golden is a frequent contributor to books, catalogues, and magazines and regularly speaks at institutions around the world as well as teaching at various universities. Golden serves on the Graduate Committee at the Center for Curatorial Studies
Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture
The Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture is an exhibition and research center dedicated to the study of art and exhibition practices from the 1960s to the present day. Co-founded in 1990 by Marieluise Hessel and Richard Black, the Center initiated its graduate program in...
at Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, is on the boards of Creative Time
Creative Time
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1973 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged works in the public realm, especially in vacant spaces of historical and architectural interest...
in New York and the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
.
Awards
- 2003: honorary Doctor of Fine ArtsDoctor of Fine ArtsDoctor of Fine Arts is doctoral degree in fine arts, typically given as an honorary degree . The degree is typically conferred to honor the recipient who has made a contribution to society in the arts...
, Moore College of Art and DesignMoore College of Art and DesignMoore College of Art & Design educates students for careers in the visual arts. Moore is an independent college of art and design. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Moore is the first and only women's visual arts college in the nation, and one of only two in the world... - 2004: honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
- 2008: honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art InstituteSan Francisco Art InstituteSan Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...