Philadelphia Museum of Art, Director, Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) announced the appointment of Imani Roach as its inaugural director and curator of the newly created Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art. 

Roach comes to the PMA from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she has been a key member of the curatorial team for the Arts of Africa since 2021. During that time, she has engaged in research and planning for the renovation and reinstallation of The Met's African art galleries within the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, a landmark project scheduled to open to the public in 2025. A specialist in mid-twentieth-century African modernism, Roach earned a BA in art history from Stanford University and an MA in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University. Her doctoral research, also undertaken at Harvard, explores the photographic legacy of DRUM magazine, a critical outlet for black South African voices during the period of apartheid.

A proud Philadelphia resident since 2012, Roach is a dedicated and skilled educator who has developed curricula and led courses on the Arts of Africa at Haverford College, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Moore College of Art & Design, and the University of the Arts, as well as California College of the Arts. She has also been an active participant in the city’s vibrant creative community as both a vocalist and a visual artist. Roach’s art has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and at SPACES gallery in Cleveland, as well as at Philadelphia’s own Vox Populi, where she was a member from 2015 to 2020.

Announced in 2022, the Brind Center is endowed by Trustee Ira Brind and will focus on expanding the scope and reach of the museum’s collection of art from across Africa, the Americas and the wider African diaspora.

Sarah James led this search with Ryan Leichenauer and Siobhan Hanley.

You may read the full press release here.