Lowery Stokes Sims

Lowery Stokes Sims
Name	Lowery Stokes Sims
Birth date	1949
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Curator, art historian, museum director, educator
Years active	1970s–present
Known for	Advocacy for contemporary African American art, multicultural exhibitions, museum leadership

Lowery Stokes Sims Lowery Stokes Sims is an American art historian, curator, and museum leader known for expanding representation of African American, Caribbean, Latino, Asian American, and Indigenous artists within major cultural institutions. Her career spans influential roles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Art and Design, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, intersecting with figures such as Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution. Sims has combined curatorial practice, scholarship, and pedagogy to shape museum policies and exhibition histories across the United States and internationally.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Sims grew up amid the cultural ferment of Harlem and the broader New York City arts scene that produced artists such as Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas, and Edward Hopper. She pursued undergraduate studies at Howard University and later earned graduate degrees at Columbia University and the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, where her training connected her with scholars and curators associated with the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. During her formative years she encountered exhibitions and publications from figures like Henry M. Kim, Linda Nochlin, Amelia Rauser, and learned archival practices linked to collections at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Frick Collection, and the Morgan Library & Museum.

Curatorial career

Sims began curatorial work in the 1970s and 1980s, aligning with curators and critics such as Thelma Golden, Holland Cotter, Robert F. Brown, Cornelia Butler, and Lucy Lippard who were redefining museum programming. She organized exhibitions that brought attention to artists including Elizabeth Catlett, Gordon Parks, Maya Lin, Kara Walker, and Chris Ofili, and worked with galleries and nonprofit spaces like The Studio Museum in Harlem, Artists Space, and the New Museum. Her projects often engaged with collections strategies employed at the Brooklyn Museum, the New-York Historical Society, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, negotiating loans, provenance research, and partnerships with collectors such as Alfred Taubman and foundations like the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Museum leadership and administration

In leadership roles, Sims served as a senior curator and later director-level administrator interacting with boards and executives from institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Art and Design, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her administrative work addressed exhibition development, acquisitions, and diversity initiatives similar to reforms at the Tate Modern, the National Gallery of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Sims collaborated with directors like Philippe de Montebello, Thomas Krens, Max Hollein, and Museum of Modern Art leadership and engaged fundraising networks involving trustees from organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Scholarship and publications

Sims authored and contributed to catalogs, essays, and critical texts alongside scholars and writers including Lucy Lippard, Renée Cox, Robert Pruitt, Richard J. Powell, and Terry Smith. Her writings contextualize artists within movements tied to Harlem Renaissance figures, Black Arts Movement practitioners, and transnational diasporic conversations involving the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa. She curated illustrated catalogs and edited volumes featuring scholarship on subjects like Jacob Lawrence cycles, Betye Saar installations, Faith Ringgold story quilts, and contemporary practices connected to biennials such as the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Art Biennial.

Teaching and mentoring

Sims has taught and lectured at universities and schools including Columbia University, New York University, Pratt Institute, Rutgers University, and Yale University, mentoring emerging curators and scholars alongside faculty such as Beverly Buchanan, Zadie Smith, and David A. Ross. Her mentorship fostered careers at institutions like the Brooklyn Museum, the Perez Art Museum Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the Hammer Museum, and influenced curatorial practices practiced by alumni who later worked with collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Honors and awards

Over her career Sims received honors and recognition from cultural organizations and foundations including awards affiliated with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. She has been the recipient of fellowships and prizes similar to those granted by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Paul Mellon Centre, and institutional awards given by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her leadership earned citations from civic entities such as the City of New York and arts councils comparable to the New York State Council on the Arts.

Personal life and legacy

Sims resides in New York City and remains active in advisory roles to museums, foundations, and academic programs, contributing to boards and panels alongside trustees from institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian Institution. Her legacy is evident in expanded acquisitions policies, diversified exhibition histories, and the careers of curators and artists she supported, connecting her influence to trajectories that include the Harlem Renaissance, mid-20th-century modernism, and contemporary diasporic art movements. Category:American art historians