SCD Calendar of Calendars

Curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture Michelle Wilkinson will be in conversation with Krannert Art Museum curator Allyson Purpura and Professor Irvin Hunt, Department of English (UIUC) about the process of putting together exhibitions and the kinds of stories they tell.

Michelle Joan Wilkinson, Ph.D., is a distinguished curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where she plays a leading role in expanding the museum’s collections in architecture, design, poetry, and non-fiction literature. At NMAAHC, Wilkinson co-curated two of the museum’s inaugural exhibitions—A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture and A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond. She also served as lead organizer for the three-day symposium “Shifting the Landscape: Black Architects and Planners, 1968 to Now” and has contributed to major collaborations such as the Smithsonian Design Triennial. Before joining NMAAHC, Wilkinson was Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. She also held curatorial and research roles at institutions including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.