EADJ Curator (2024- 2026): Grace Aneiza Ali
Grace Aneiza Ali听is currently the appointed Curator for the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice at 91吃瓜网 where she has organized听Somewhere We Are Human, a year-long series of exhibitions and public programs looking at the city of Nashville and the American South through a lens of migration, exploring the ways immigrant communities have shaped the region鈥檚 history and envision its future through art and activism.
Ali is a Guyanese-born curator and assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History and affiliated faculty in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center at Florida State University. She is a 2024 recipient of the University Provost Award for Inclusive Teaching. As a curator-scholar of contemporary art of the Global South, her curatorial research practice examines the conceptual links and slippages at the nexus of art and migration.
She is a current Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at The Huntington Library and Museum in Los Angeles, California and a Stuart A. Rose Library Fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the College Art Association鈥檚听Art Journal Open听and a member of the international board of advisors for听the Paul Mellon Centre鈥檚听British Art Studies听Journal.
Ali also specializes in art of the Caribbean Diaspora with particular attention to her homeland Guyana. Her听听focuses on courses on curatorial practice, curatorial activism, art and migration, arts activism, art and social change, global contemporary art, and art of the Caribbean Diaspora.
Ali鈥檚 book听听explores the art and migration narratives of women of Guyanese heritage. Her essays on contemporary art have been published in听Arts,听Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, Wasafiri, Transition Magazine (Harvard University), Small Axe,听and听Nueva Luz Photographic Journal,听among others.
Prior to joining FSU, she taught in the听program as a听听and Assistant Professor in the听听at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (NYU), and also served as affiliated faculty with the Asian/Pacific/American Institute. She finished a tenure as Curator-at-Large for the听听(CCCADI) in New York where she developed the organization鈥檚 first听Curatorial Fellowship in Afro-Caribbean Art听and launched a thriving public program series,听Curators in Conversation,听gathering global curators and artists to discuss urgent issues of equity and inclusion affecting museums and the curatorial field.听 For her work with CCCADI, she was selected for听听recognizing those 鈥渃ontributing to the cultural conversation in a pointed way鈥攁nd moving the conversation forward.鈥�
She is the recipient of the following fellowships and awards that have generously supported her curatorial projects, research, and scholarship: NYU Provost Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellowship, Ronald E. McNair Scholar, NYU Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship, NYU Dean鈥檚 Faculty Grant, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art Grant. She is an alumni of the听听听and a member of听听alumni and the听.
She is founder and curator of听, an online platform for contemporary arts and culture of Guyana and founder and editorial director of听听鈥� an award-winning nonprofit arts journalism initiative reporting on the intersection of art and activism.听Her curatorial projects and scholarship have been featured in听The New York Times,听The Washington Post,听Hyperallergic,听ArtNews,听Wasafiri,听Contemporary &,听Ms. Magazine听and听GOOD Magazine, among others.
Ali currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the not-profit arts organization,听, which supports artists and curators in the 21st century presenting art in direct response to pressing global issues and on the Academic Advisory Board for听, a peer-reviewed publication centering the study of indentureship and its importance to world history. She is a proud mentor for听, a leader in arts education, writing and mentoring for underserved and immigrant girls in New York City.听She has been named a听听and has been an invited speaker to its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. She has been named a听听an organization led by Indo-Caribbean women and committed to creating a safe and equitable society for women and girls.
She earned a M.A. in Africana Studies from New York University and a B.A. in English Literature with a concentration in African Diaspora Literature and a Certificate in Women鈥檚 Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she graduated听magna cum laude.
Ali migrated from Guyana to the United States with her family when she was fourteen years old.