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Newfields trustees have elected a new leader, one who will help steer the art and nature campus as it works on community relationship-building and becoming anti-racist in the wake of a controversial job posting earlier this year.
Darrianne Christian was elected to be the new chair at Newfield s 138th Annual Meeting. She had previously served on the Board of Trustees but will be the first Black woman to hold the chair, according to the museum. Several new board members were elected as well, bringing the total of Board of Trustees members of color and from marginalized identities from 8% to almost 25%. Newfields action plan, which was released in March, promised that the institution would reach those demographics by May.
Art advisor Alaina Simone.
Alaina Simone has worn many hats in the art world since getting her first job in the industry at Detroit’s 555 Arts some 17 years ago. She’s been an artist liaison, a gallery director, a curator, a head of development, and a board member, to name a few.
Lessons from each of those roles inform Simone’s current job, running her own artist management agency in New York. There, Simone similarly plays a number of parts an advisor to creators, a marketing consultant, a producer of events. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also an accomplished collector with a penchant for supporting the work of up-and-coming BIPOC artists.