Megha Ralapati is an independent curator and arts leader in Chicago, who seeks to amplify artists’ practice through cultural exchange and transnational dialogue. In her current role as Program Director for CEC ArtsLink, a platform dedicated to international connection and mobility for artists, she oversees programs and fellowships, as well as leads the annually anticipated ArtsLink Assembly, a transnational convening of practitioners, which has taken place in New York, Warsaw, and Chicago in November 2023.
Prior to this, Megha spent a decade shaping the Jackman Goldwasser Residency at Hyde Park Art Center, where she curated artists from across the world, bringing them to Chicago to deepen engagement locally, and reciprocally created pathways for Chicago artists to spend time at global cultural institutions to grow their practices and networks. She began her career as Director of Bose Pacia in New York and New Delhi, an international visual art gallery presenting the work of dynamic multidisciplinary artists from across South Asia.
Megha is a well-regarded juror for artist awards and grants, and as a visiting critic, she has engaged with artists of all levels, including at the School of the Art Institute, NYU, and most recently Asiko, an experimental pan-African summer intensive for artists. Her writing has been included in publications for Documenta 14, Brooklyn Museum, Sharjah Art Foundation, and the Devi Art Foundation, among others. Megha received an MA in Visual Culture from Goldsmiths and a BA in Art History and Anthropology from Columbia University. She is currently a board member of Artist Communities Alliance, Enrich Chicago, and a member of SpaceShift, an interdisciplinary art collective.
