Charleston-based curator Chase Quinn has announced he will be inaugural creative director and curator of special projects of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson starting Jan. 13, 2025.
Quinn has been recognized by Garden & Gun magazine as one of the art world’s rising vanguards. During his five-year tenure as co-director of education and programs at the Gibbes Museum of Art, Quinn curated interdisciplinary programs to bring in new faces and amplify more diverse points of view.
“When it comes to creating programming, I have a couple of values — one of them being relationship building,” he said. “Meaningful partnerships built on a foundation of trust and integrity have been crucial to the success of these programs that I have started.
“To uplift the work of other organizations, and give a platform to showcase the amazing things that they’re doing, that’s been really important to me in my approach.”
Examples of new programs include the Vibrant Leaders Internship, which was launched in the summer of 2024 at the Gibbes, as a paid museum internship for students of color. Other projects: an ongoing film series, the Gibbes’ first-ever hip hop concert, live theater performances and more.
Before his time at the Gibbes, Quinn spent six years at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a progressive human rights organization in New York City, creating arts and cultural programs as an entry point to enroll new people into their mission.
“Ensuring that the programs offer multiple entry points for the visitor has also been really crucial. So if you’re not as inclined to come to a lecture, we offer a film screening, or we have jazz musicians respond to works on view. Making sure programs are interdisciplinary is another important part of my approach. And finally, being bold and being experimental.”
Since 2020, there’s been a reckoning in the greater art and museum world towards addressing inequity in the field and in museum practices. Equity and inclusion are core values of Quinn’s work.
“The summer of 2020 completely changed expectations for cultural institutions across the country, across the world,” Quinn said, expressing gratitude that he was “uniquely positioned to respond to that moment.”
Last fall as the Gibbes’ first African American staff curator, Quinn conceptualized and curated the landmark exhibition Something Terrible May Happen: The Art of Aubrey Beardsley and Edward “Ned” I.R. Jennings, which explored the queer influences on the Charleston Renaissance and recontextualized the city’s early 20th-century art scene.
The provocative exhibition was covered nationally by Forbes and more. In fact, Quinn said one of his most proud moments was seeing Ned I.R. Jennings’ work on the cover of the John Hopkins University Press’ quarterly journal, CUSP.
“That really illustrated to me the power of the curator to shed a light on artists and individuals, who, for one reason or another, had been overlooked. Essentially what we set out to do, which was to bring him a broader audience, and we did that.”
In this newly created role in Mississippi, Quinn will bring his approach to exhibition design and educational programming.
“I recognized the ambitious and important work that they’re already doing at the MMA, and that’s part of the reason I was excited to join the team,” Quinn said. “I’m excited to learn, to get to know Jackson, Mississippi, more intimately. Jackson was a special place for the civil rights movement. So I feel really privileged and honored to engage with that legacy, doing cultural work in Jackson.”
Betsy Bradley, MMA’s director, said in a statement, “We are thrilled to welcome Chase — a proven thought-leader in innovative educational programming, exhibition curation, and community outreach. His deep experience, personal values, and expertise in making meaningful connections with diverse audiences, artists, and institutional partners make him an ideal candidate for this new role.
“Under his creative direction, we look forward to expanding opportunities for dynamic engagement with those we serve, aligning with the Museum’s mission and commitment to equity, honesty, and access.”
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