Lisa Crossman

Lisa Crossman is Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. Lisa’s work centers exhibition making as a transformative process with the potential to be part of institutional change. Her curatorial practice foregrounds collaboration with artists, students, faculty, and guest curators, among others. Prior to this position, she was Curator at the Fitchburg Art Museum and worked with the Cultural Agents Initiative at Harvard University. Lisa holds a PhD from Tulane University, specializing in the history of modern and contemporary art of Latin America, with a focus on themes relating to ecology, social practice, and intersections of art and politics. Her curatorial projects explore the visual arts as part of interdisciplinary conversations, with current projects focused on decentering national and colonial narratives. Recent and forthcoming publications include Boundless: Native American Abundance in Art and Literature (co-edited with Heid E. Erdrich) and “G(hosting) Institutional Memory through Exhibition Making” in Parse Journal (cowritten with Sharon X. Liu). Spring 2026 exhibitions at the Mead include Kwame Brathwaite: Revolutionary Movements (co-curated with Siddhartha V. Shah and supported by the Teiger Foundation) and Adventures of the Quantum Soup Surfer (a solo exhibition featuring the work of JooYoung Choi). Lisa is dedicated to supporting artists, which is reflected in her service to local community cultural councils, national professional organizations, and international networks