Dr. Melaine Ferdinand-King

We are pleased to introduce Dr. Melaine Ferdinand-King as the African American Museum of Rhode Island’s Inaugural Curator of Exhibitions & Programming.

Melaine is a curator and scholar whose work moves between institutions, communities, and archives. Through critical writing, exhibition-making, and workshop facilitation, she forages for thought in the ever-capacious field of Black Studies. Her curatorial practice reveals an eye attuned to both emerging voices and tradition, extending access to 20th and 21st century art and archives for domestic and international galleries, community groups, and organizations.

While completing her PhD in Africana Studies from Brown University, she forged relationships with important New England cultural spaces, including being awarded Emerging Curator by the Providence Biennial for Contemporary Art, co-founding The Black Biennial initiative at Rhode Island School of Design, and engagements with WaterFire Arts Center, Jamestown Arts Center, Gallery Night Providence, among others.

Melaine officially joined us in Fall 2025 and has since been preparing our first exhibition, “Welcome to the Neighborhood: Mapping Black Providence in Art and Archives 1940s-1970s”.

We look forward to opening our first gallery, "First Space", this April 2026.