Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA) Chooses Curator

Adeze Wilford will serve as curator for The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA), starting February 14. With support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Wilford joins MOCA North Miami’s senior leadership team as the museum expands its offerings. Wilford most recently served as assistant curator at The Shed, New York, where she curated the New York Times-acclaimed exhibition “Howardena Pindell: Rope/Fire/Water” in 2020. 

“The entire team at MOCA North Miami is thrilled to welcome Adeze Wilford to the museum and to the community,” says Chana Sheldon,

Director at Museum of MOCA. “Under Adeze’s curatorial leadership, we look forward to MOCA’s continued growth and to connecting diverse audiences by providing a welcoming place to encounter new ideas and voices. Adeze’s collaborative spirit and experience is an exciting match for our rapidly transforming museum that aspires to become a leader in the growth of North Miami, as well as the art and museum communities.”    

MOCA aims to connect diverse audiences and cultures by providing a welcoming place to encounter new ideas and voices while nurturing a lifelong love of the arts. In her new role, Wilford will lead the curatorial department’s vast array of exhibitions highlighting historically under-explored artists and movements and present museum solo exhibitions for emerging artists. She will oversee MOCA’s permanent collection, public art initiatives and spearhead the museum’s unique guest curator program.

Wilford joins MOCA during a transformative time in the museum’s history, with recent exhibitions winning critical acclaim and its educational and public programming providing cultural engagement and connection for the community. The current collection, “My Name is Maryan,” guest curated by Alison M. Gingeras, will travel to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in March 2023 after closing on March 20.

“Miami and South Florida will truly benefit from having Adeze Wilford join MOCA,” says Victoria Rogers, Knight’s arts program vice president. “With Wilford’s experience in creating thought-provoking exhibitions, MOCA will continue to showcase significant work that resonates, creates conversation and is reflective of Miami’s tremendous diversity. We’re excited to support the museum’s continued growth and its role in further establishing our city as a cultural capital of the Americas.” 

Wilford joined The Shed as a curatorial assistant in 2018, where she saw the space evolve from a construction site to one that is activated by exhibitions and performances including “Open Call,” “Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates,” “Collision/Coalition” and “Up Close.” In 2019, she curated “Vernacular Interior” at Hales Gallery, New York. Wilford served as public programs assistant at The Studio Museum in Harlem before serving as a joint curatorial fellow for The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 2015-2017.

Wilford currently serves on the board of The Queens Museum, New York. She has contributed to various publications, including “Howardena Pindell: A New Language,” “Young,” “Gifted and Black,” “Fictions,” and “Black Refractions,” and has appeared on several panels. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history and African-American studies from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

“I’m delighted to join MOCA at a time of exciting growth and change,” says Wilford. “I look forward to working with the community of North Miami and the larger arts community of South Florida to bring meaningful and resonant programming to the museum that builds upon a legacy that remains deeply committed to giving artists a platform to share their practices.”