THE AAMC FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES CURATORIAL FELLOWS FOR ITS 2025 PACC AND PROPEL PROGRAMS

NEW YORK, NY October 1, 2025 – The AAMC Foundation announces the 2025 fellows, mentors, and advisors for its PACC and Propel programs. Now in its fifth year, PACC supports emerging curators worldwide who face professional barriers, such as limited access to opportunities or institutional resources. The Propel fellowship is the longest-running initiative of its kind dedicated to mid-career curators. The 2025 cohort includes ten art curators in each program, ranging in specialty and focus, from across ten states and four countries.

In an era of growing responsibilities and limited professional development options, the AAMC Foundation’s fellowship programs offer invaluable learning experiences for participants to create meaningful and career-impacting networks, investigate important issues in the field, cultivate strong bonds with their peers, and develop an independent working relationship with a senior curatorial leader, their mentor.

Both programs have seen over 80% of participants achieve at least one new or advanced role following their involvement in the programs. 

Both fellowship programs incorporate critical elements of mentorship and professional development including:

• Introductory Virtual Meetup (Fall 2025)

• Multi-day in-person residency, New York City (Fall 2025)

• Direct mentorship from a senior curator, including a multi-day site visit to the Mentor’s institution

• Five or more additional learning intensive sessions (Winter & Spring 2026)

• End of program in-person workshop, New York City (April 2026)

• 2026 Art Curators Conference in-person attendance, New York City (April 30 - May 1, 2026)

• All travel, accommodations, per diem

• Program stipend 

“As a former emerging and occasionally overlooked mid-career curator myself, I know how instrumental mentors are in guiding professional advancement and resiliency in a hyper-competitive field,” says Christina Yang, Executive Director, AAMC Foundation. “I am deeply proud of the work AAMC Foundation does through its fellowship programs to sustain curatorial excellence while shoring up gaps in the field for our rising generation of curators.”

We thank our Curatorial Advisors Brittany Webb, Curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Brinda Kumar, Associate Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their instrumental guidance in designing the overall professional experience of the cohorts and working with AAMC Foundation to sustain PACC (Webb) and Propel’s (Kumar) relevance for curators today.

2025 PACC Fellows

Daisy Alejandre, Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA

Lisbet Barrientos, Curatorial Assistant for Arts of Asia, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Grace Billingslea, Curatorial Assistant, Arts of the Americas and American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Clarke Brown, Special Projects Curator, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, Atlanta, GA

Brandon Eng, Curatorial Assistant, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

Erika Holum, Independent Curator, Houston, TX

Jaleesa Johnston, Curatorial Coordinator, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

Alex Jones, Curatorial Assistant, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA

Abi Lua, Assistant Curator, James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA

Lillian O'Brien Davis, Associate Curator, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, Canada

Learn more about the 2025 PACC Fellows here.

2025 PACC Mentors

Grace Deveney, Associate Curator, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Shawnya Harris, Deputy Director of Curatorial and Academic Affairs, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
Shalini Le Gall, Director, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
Leilani Lynch, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO
Felicia Mings, Curator, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, Canada
Jade Powers, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Alejandra Rojas Silva, Curator of European & American Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Ilona Smiling, Director, Museum of Belize, Belize City, Belize
Gabriela Urtiaga, Chief Curator, Museum of Latin American Art,
Rangsook Yoon, Senior Curator, Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, FL

Learn more about the 2025 PACC Mentors here.

2025 Propel Fellows

Olivia Aherne, Curator, Chisenhale Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Nicole Berlin, Associate Curator of Collections, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Anaïs Castro, Assistant Curator, National Gallery of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sara E. Cole, Associate Curator of Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Sara Cluggish, Mary Hulings Rice Director and Curator, The Perlman Teaching Museum, Carlton College, Northfield, MN
Ziying Duan, Assistant Curator, UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, CA
Aindrea Emelife, Curator, Modern and Contemporary, Museum of West African Art, Benin City, Nigeria
Georgia Erger, Curator, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Patricia Hernandez, Associate Curator, Amant, Brooklyn, NY
Lana Meador, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX

Learn more about the 2025 Propel Fellows here.

2025 Propel Mentors

Emerson Bowyer, Searle Curator, Painting and Sculpture of Europe, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Nicholas Chambers, Senior Curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Christa Clarke, Director of Curatorial Strategy, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
Jessica Hong, Chief Curator, Kemper Museum, St. Louis, MO
Kati Kivinen, Chief Curator for Collections, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Miranda Kyle, Curator of Indigenous Arts of the Americas, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Rosalind McKever, Curator of Paintings and Drawings, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Tamara Schenkenberg, Independent Curator, St. Louis, MO
Joanne Snrech, Curator, Musée National Picasso-Paris, Paris, France
Elizabeth Williams, David & Peggy Rockefeller Curator, RISD Museum, Providence, RI

Learn more about the 2025 Propel Mentors here.

Lead support for PACC and Propel is made possible from the Getty Foundation, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Additional support provided by AAMC Foundation President’s Circle.

CONTACT

Emma Huneck, Senior Program Manager, programs@artcurators.org

Christina Yang, Executive Director, director@artcurators.org

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