Cultural DistrictClick here to go back to the home page

Jessica Gaynelle Moss (b. 1987 in Anaheim, CA) is an artist who supports other artists through her curatorial work, consultancy and custodianship. Jessica received a bachelors in Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009; a masters in Arts Administration, Policy and Management from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015; and she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2018.

Jessica has collaborated with notable artists, contributing to social practice, public art and community engaged projects like Mel Chin's Fundred Dollar Bill Project, Theaster Gates' Rebuild Foundation, and Alisha B Wormsley's Sibyls Shrine, where she currently serves as the collective's managing director and curator. Her work and projects have been featured in Architectural Digest, The Root, Black Art in America, and Bloomberg News.

Jessica has been acclaimed as a 'Leading Voice in Public Art,' honored as a 'Woman of Achievement,' and recognized among 'Women to Watch.' She has been awarded the prestigious 40 Under 40 award in multiple US cities, recognizing her dedication towards advancing equity within the arts beyond borders. Her impactful works and contributions have been acknowledged with grant awards and honors from distinguished funders including The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Black Art Futures Fund and The Ford Foundation.

Helen Trompeteler is a curator and writer deeply committed to supporting underrepresented visual artists. As Deputy Director and Director of Programs at Silver Eye Center for Photography, she brings over twenty years of curatorial expertise following roles at the Royal Collection Trust (UK), the National Portrait Gallery (UK), and as an independent curator. A passionate advocate for artists and audiences, her writing has been published worldwide.

Akemi May is the Associate Curator of Works on Paper at Carnegie Museum of Art where she is responsible for the care of the museum’s collection of over 11,600 drawings, watercolors, prints, and collages. Since joining the museum in 2009, May has collaborated on major collection reinstallations and organized numerous exhibitions including, Japan is the Key: Collecting Prints and Ivories, 1900-1920, Hiroshige's Tōkaidō Road, Monet and the Modern City, and A Delight for the Senses, The Still Life. Her most recent exhibition, Imprinting in Their Time: Japanese Printmakers, 1912-2022 drew from the museum’s extensive collection of modern and contemporary Japanese prints and featured special loans from local collectors.

May is interested in the history of collecting and the life stories of objects. She was a contributor to Art Tracks, a pioneering data visualization initiative for provenance research and oversaw the publication of the museum’s recent Collection Handbook. Published in honor of the 125th anniversary of Carnegie Museum of Art, the handbook documents the transformation of the collection through personal reflections by the current and former staff who helped shape it. May received her BA in Psychology and the History of Art and Architecture from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her MA in the History of Art and Architecture from Syracuse University.