{"id":9395,"date":"2021-04-07T21:01:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T21:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=9395"},"modified":"2021-04-07T21:06:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T21:06:05","slug":"jordia-benjamin-and-the-romare-bearden-graduate-museum-fellowship-at-the-saint-louis-art-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=9395","title":{"rendered":"Jordia Benjamin And The Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first of a series of weekly profiles on Bearden Fellows here at Black Art In America. The Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum is nationally renowned as one of the oldest and most robust museum programs in the country dedicated to increasing diversity among professional staff in the museum field. For more information on the Bearden Fellowship, go to slam.org<\/a><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jordia Benjamin<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cArt, in the words of Nina Simone, should reflect the times in which we live,\u201d promotes<\/span> Jordia Benjamin, an art museum educator, community engagement specialist, and college instructor. For over a decade, Benjamin has forged a successful path in the museum and nonprofit sectors both domestically and abroad. The idea, maintains Benjamin, is to \u201cshed light and critique outdated norms to create movements to bring about much needed change.\u00a0Often, art is the voice of the oppressed looking to sensitize the powers that be on pressing issues affecting communities. The different art mediums must always be agitators for change to facilitate a more just world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Benjamin is no stranger to such agitation.\u00a0As the Mirken Senior Coordinator of Programs and Audience Engagement at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, Benjamin oversees and advocates for all of the museum\u2019s public programs and community engagement initiatives. Despite the challenges of the past year, the Bahamian native successfully spearheaded the museum\u2019s transition to virtual programming, increasing its audience to over 10,000 viewers. Consistently, Benjamin\u2019s extensive background in museum education\u2014initially forged with the Contemporary Art Museum at the University of South Florida prior to leading the education department at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas\u2014is a testament to her belief in the critical nature of public engagement work to an organization\u2019s mission, its priorities, its accessibility, and, ultimately, its capacity for change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2014, as a result of her museum work and public engagement advocacy, Benjamin was selected as the 21st Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellow at the Saint Louis Art Museum. There, she worked closely with the institution\u2019s Learning and Engagement Department to further develop youth and adult art programming.<\/span> \u201cThe fellowship exceeded all expectations and it challenged me to think outside the normal paradigms of what it means to be truly engaged,\u201d offers Benjamin, clarifying how it deepened her connections with artists, students, curators, educators, and communities as a whole. She points out how such increased exposure to museum culture for people of color can lead to more professionals in the space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMuseums are to be an accurate reflection of a whole society and not only for a certain segment,\u201d stresses Benjamin, noting \u201cwith more inclusiveness, museums can become a vehicle for change. Through education, they could empower, uplift, and provide insights into real, unaddressed problems that historically have plagued communities and societies at large.\u201d Benjamin has continued to use her experience as a Bearden fellow<\/span> to engage diverse communities and \u201caddress their concerns through art. My focus has been to present opportunities for open dialogue. The more transparent a society becomes, the less upheavals they will experience. So, as a museum professional and one who engages communities often, my purpose is to find common ground for the common good through the means of art.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the role and the potential of art in contemporary society, Benjamin drives home its present value.<\/span> \u201cIf ever there was a time for its use, it is now. With pressing issues such as women\u2019s fight for equality, unabated racism, immigration conundrums, global warming, livable wages, lack of affordable health care, and conflicts in different regions of the world, art gives abundant space for expression and resolution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Advancing Change: The Future of Museum Leadership<\/h3>\n
Thursday, May 6 | 10 am<\/span>\u20133 pm<\/span>\u00a0CDT<\/div>\n
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Virtual Summit on Diversity — link to register : https:\/\/bit.ly\/31Ph8yJ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Past Romare Bearden Fellows, Saint Louis Art Museum<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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