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­­­­­Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art names Jessica S. Hong Chief Curator

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Announces Chief Curator.pdf

KANSAS CITY, MO—Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art announced today that Jessica S. Hong has been appointed to lead the museum’s curatorial program as chief curator, effective December 30, 2024.

Hong joins Kemper Museum from the Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH) where she is the senior curator of modern and contemporary art. With nearly two decades of experience, Hong has worked with artists and communities at museums and organizations including Dartmouth’s Hood Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Harvard Art Museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Independent Curators International (ICI). She has collaborated with artists on major projects and exhibitions including “Jean Shin: Perch” (2024) at Appleton Farms in Ipswich, MA, the first site-specific commission at the oldest continuously running farm in the United States; the Toledo presentation of “Marisol: A Retrospective” (2024) from the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, contributing an essay in the corresponding publication reexamining and recontextualizing Marisol’s well-known 1960s figurative sculptural works; “Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg—Machine Auguries: Toledo” (2023), the artist’s first U.S. solo presentation; “Stan Douglas: Doppelgänger” (2021–22), marking the U.S. premiere of the artist’s film. Hong has overseen institutional acquisitions by artists such as Pacita Abad, Huguette Caland, Teresita Fernández, Jeffrey Gibson, Isaac Julien, Kerry James Marshall, Ana Mendieta, Mickalene Thomas, Remedios Varo, Haegue Yang, and Zarina, as well as the Toledo Museum of Art’s first digital artwork by Osinachi.

“With its emphatic belief in the power and necessity of art and artists, I am thrilled to be joining the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art during a consequential time in the museum’s history,” said Hong. “Along with pioneering contemporary art discourse across Missouri and the broader region, Kemper Museum has always understood an institution’s responsibility towards the communities they serve, foregrounding belonging since its inception. With this strong foundation, I look forward to collaboratively shaping an expansive curatorial program that will lead the museum into its next dynamic chapter.”

As chief curator, Hong will work closely with Kemper Museum Executive Director Jessica May to develop the museum’s curatorial vision, artistic program, and cultivate relationships with peer institutions and community partners through collaborative projects and public programming.

“It’s a truism to say that our new chief curator comes to the museum at a pivotal moment in the institution’s history, but in this case the truism is absolutely appropriate,” said Jessica May. “This year is the museum’s 30th anniversary, so we are not only marking the remarkable history of contemporary art in Kansas City but also planning for a big future.”

Among the projects that Hong will oversee in 2025 is the landmark exhibition “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” a multi-artist project that centers relationship building and collaboration through contemporary ceramics. This exhibition, opening in September 2025, is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and will feature a new commission by Raven Halfmoon, among other artists.

Jessica S. Hong is a curator and cultural worker who has dedicated her practice to highlighting under-recognized narratives and stimulating generational change within institutional sites. She is interested in rethinking curatorial practice to center the support of artists and facilitate critical dialogues, bridging contexts and building communities while foregrounding collaboration and equity. Throughout her career, Hong has focused on bridging seemingly disparate contexts to demonstrate the complex yet interconnected sociocultural fabric in which we are all part. Hong is currently the senior curator of modern and contemporary art at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) where she is responsible for broadening art historical narratives and shaping a global collection and exhibitions program. At TMA, she has organized the premiere of Stan Douglas’s major film installation “Doppelgänger” in a U.S. institution (2021-22), “Living Legacies: Art of the African American South (2022), and “Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg–Machine Auguries: Toledo” (2023), the artist’s first U.S. solo presentation. In the lead-up to the museum’s historic reinstallation, Hong has acquired key works by Pacita Abad, Huguette Caland, Teresita Fernández, Jeffrey Gibson, Isaac Julien, Kerry James Marshall, Ana Mendieta, Mickalene Thomas, Remedios Varo, the museum’s first digital artwork by Osinachi, among others. Additionally, she worked on inaugurating TMA’s digital artist residency in which she serves as artistic director and, in 2022, she was awarded Toledo’s 20 Under 40, which recognizes leaders in the community.

Prior to TMA, she was the associate curator of global contemporary art at Dartmouth’s Hood Museum of Art and the first to fill this position on the occasion of the museum’s major expansion. She organized “Drawing Lines” (2021–22); “Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel” (2021–22); “Reconstitution” (2020–21); “New Landscapes: Contemporary Responses to Globalization” (2019), and made significant acquisitions including works by Ho Tzu Nyen, Haegue Yang, and Zarina. Previously, she was assistant curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston where she organized exhibitions including “Arthur Jafa: Love Is the Message, the Message Is Death” (2018) and the Boston presentation of “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women,” 1965-85 (2018) from the Brooklyn Museum. During her tenure at the ICA, Hong organized and coordinated thirteen exhibitions along with corresponding publications, such as “Huma Bhabha: They Live” (2019), “Mark Dion: Misadventures of a 21st Century Naturalist” (2017), and “Liz Deschenes” (2016). Before the ICA, she was part of the new Division of Modern and Contemporary Art that launched the renovated Harvard Art Museums. She was previously based in New York and held curatorial positions at Independent Curators International (ICI), SculptureCenter, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She was formerly ICI’s external evaluator for curatorial programs and has been a visiting lecturer at various academic institutions including Emerson College, Dartmouth College, Maryland College of Art, Lesley University, New York University, among others. Additionally, she continues to serve as a national critic and juror for numerous grants, fellowships, awards, and residency programs and was a member of the U.S. Pavilion curatorial advisory committee for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Hong received her M.A. with Distinction in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and B.A. in art history from Barnard College, Columbia University, graduating cum laude and with department honors.

Located in Kansas City, Missouri, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is a leading presenter of global modern and contemporary art in the region. As the first contemporary art museum in the state, Kemper Museum has connected Midwest communities with the artists of our time since 1994. The museum cares for nearly 1,500 artworks by hundreds of artists in its growing Permanent Collection. A rotating selection of these works are on view in the museum’s Gunnar Birkerts-designed building, alongside rotating special exhibitions. Each year, the museum presents eight to ten exhibitions and major projects, with a special focus on emerging, mid-career artists, as well as artists from historically excluded groups. An active calendar of creative public programs provides meaningful engagement opportunities for visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

Kemper Museum is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Admission, parking, and public programs are always free, thanks to the generosity of members and other donors.