Exhibition Writing

​Many museums and cultural institutions are missing a huge opportunity. Throughout my branding career, I have learned how to connect with audiences and inspire their engagement. Yet, I find exhibitions often lack this “audience first” mindset.

​Research, academic understanding, and rich history does not have to be presented like a textbook on a wall. We have the opportunity to tell vibrant stories that connect to audiences and engage them deeper in the histories and ideas that create our daily lives. This is my goal in my exhibition writing and my hope for the future of culture writing as a whole.

Recent Work

Lewis Latimer House Museum

Lewis Latimer was a Black inventor born in the 1840s. He is credited with several patents, collaborations with Thomas Edison, and was likely the man responsible for illustrating the patent drawings for the telephone. His home in Flushing, Queens is a New York City landmark and museum. After years of neglect and underfunding, the Mellon Foundation provided the Lewis Latimer House Museum a grant to develop a world-class exhibition.

Working with the museum’s historian, and alongside Isometric Designs, I wrote the exhibition text for the new permanent exhibition. It combines accessible, human language with the deep background of Lewis Latimer and his family. Guided by community input and perspectives from Lewis Latimer’s relatives, the team pulled together many voices to deliver a modern and engaging exhibition.

Sounds of Religion

Working with The American Religious Sounds Project, I developed the concept and exhibition text of this sound focused traveling show. ​This esoteric yet interesting topic required a tone that was straightforward and simply put. Using ample examples to explain concepts and visual language to enable participants to imagine, we worked to create something both engaging and accessible. 

Sculpting History: Art, Power, and the “Lost Cause" 
American Myth

As co-curator, I developed the concept and exhibition text for this truth telling exhibition about the history of the Lost Cause at The Valentine Museum in Richmond Virginia. Those who created the south's Lost Cause narrative used cultural and social centers of power to make it successful: education, media, politics, money, religion, and violence. Sculpting History uses evidence to show how Edward Valentine, leaders in Richmond, and others around the country reframed the reality of the Civil War. It uncovers the stories behind the Lost Cause, its legacy, and those who resisted the myth.

The Negro Motorist Green BooK

Working with our curator, I developed the script and label copy for this exhibition, currently traveling the United States. The exhibit featured an immersive look at the harsh reality of travel for Blacks Americans in the mid twentieth century, and the vibrant parallel world of Black-friendly businesses that supported them. Visitors are transported back to a time when, if you were Black, it took bravery and a Green Book to cross the country safely.

Men of Change

Assisting an incredible writer and design team, I played a role as strategist / creative inspiration / story consultant to shape an exhibition that continues to wow audiences. Through literary and historic quotes, poetry, original works of art, dramatically back-lit photographs, the creation of a dynamic space that encourages self-reflection, and exhibition text written with a vibrant 21st century cadence, this innovative exhibition weaves together the historical and the contemporary to illuminate the importance of these men, within the context of rich community traditions.

Art Criticism

Writing exhibitions only deepens my love for attending them. The work of exhibition review and criticism helps me explore the power of art, storytelling, and the intersection of audience psychology and creative intention.

In late fall of 2019, I reviewed the exhibition Great Force at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) at Virginia Commonwealth University. Review below.