From Audience Development to Curatorial Leadership: Anne Collins Smith, VAA ‘98

Written by Elva Zhang, Visual Arts Administration, ‘25

“I had no idea I would embark upon a career in the arts.” Anne Collins Smith, VAA ‘98, now the Chief Curator of the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), often describes her career as one she never expected to pursue. Anne attended Spelman College in Atlanta, where she began as an English major with plans to become an attorney. At the same time, she found herself increasingly drawn to art history courses. Encouraged by a professor, she changed her major, a decision ultimately led her to New York University, where she earned her MA in Visual Arts Administration. 

Moving to New York Anne found the experience both intimidating and exhilarating, but it laid the foundation for her curatorial career. In VAA, Anne was interested in understanding the many ways artists navigate the art world. Rather than following a single path, she combined nonprofit and for-profit coursework, hoping to better understand what artists need at different stages of their careers. Alongside her coursework, Anne sought every opportunity to learn beyond the classroom. She interned at Cinque Gallery, an artist-run space dedicated to introducing emerging African American artists, where she gained firsthand insight into how artists build communities and create opportunities for one another. “I wanted to see what the gallery world looked like and what artists were looking for,” she reflected, “so I could support artists in that manner.” She also participated in VAA’s study abroad program, traveling to the Netherlands, Germany, and France and gaining new perspectives on how museums engage with their audiences across different cultural contexts. These experiences inspired her thesis on audience development, an interest that has continued to shape her curatorial practice through today.

After graduating, Anne’s early career was shaped by a series of formative fellowship opportunities, including the Romare Bearden Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellowship at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. Unlike many larger institutions, academic museums offered the freedom to experiment, support classroom learning, and encourage conversations across disciplines. “You can take greater risks,” she says. And these experiences affirmed her interest in museums as places of learning and exchange, and eventually led her to a position at her alma mater, Spelman College.

At Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Smith spent nearly twenty years as Curator of Collections. During her tenure, the museum became nationally recognized for foregrounding the work of women artists of the African diaspora. She also helped establish the museum’s Curatorial Studies Program, mentoring future museum professionals while expanding opportunities for students to engage directly with curatorial practice. Looking back, Anne considers 2022’s collection-based exhibition, Silver Linings, a culmination of all she learned at Spelman’s museum over nearly two decades. The exhibition traveled to other academic museums, extending its reach and impact well beyond Anne’s tenure.

During the pandemic, Anne returned to her hometown of New Orleans. What began as a temporary return soon became a new chapter when she accepted the position of Director of the Louisiana Art Gallery at Xavier University. Not long after, she was hired as the Chief Curator of the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), where she has remained for nearly two years. Her first exhibition opened in January 2026, Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity, the first major museum retrospective devoted to the pioneering New Orleans-born artist and educator. The exhibition reintroduced audiences to this important yet long-overlooked artist in American art while returning his work to the city that shaped his life and practice. 

As a curator, one commitment has remained deeply rooted for Anne: helping museums connect more meaningfully with their audiences, particularly people like her parents, who wholeheartedly supported her decision to pursue a career in the arts, yet they had little familiarity with museums or the art world. “I felt this particular responsibility to bring them into the process,” she says. “To make sure that they could access the work and enjoy it.” Their experience made her think differently about who museums are for and how they can become places where everyone—not just those already comfortable with art—feel welcomed and included. She embraces what she calls “comprehensive connoisseurship,” inviting visitors to engage not only with the artwork itself but also with its broader context while bringing their own experiences into the conversation. In doing so, she hopes people will feel comfortable enough to discover their own connections with art.

Growing up in New Orleans also shaped Anne’s understanding of community. After leaving the city as a young adult, she came to appreciate how deeply its culture had influenced her perspective. She describes New Orleans as “the ultimate vernacular cosmopolitan ecosystem,” where diverse histories and traditions coexist naturally, encouraging her to create a public space where visitors from all backgrounds feel they belong. “My advocacy is really about hospitality for as many people as possible,” Anne explained, including “those with opposing views.” At a time when museums across the U.S. face increasing social and political tensions, Anne believes in fostering understanding. “I know what exclusion looks like,” she reflects. “I’m not going to exclude anyone.”

As a VAA alumna, Anne encourages current students to look beyond the traditional curatorial path and develop a broad understanding of how museums function. She believes learning about fundraising and philanthropy is especially valuable because it helps museum professionals create programs that attract necessary support. “I think my cohort was being geared towards development,” she reflects, “but I think if you understand arts administration from the development side, you know how to create programming that philanthropy is looking for.” She also encourages students to take advantage of opportunities such as study abroad, which would broaden both professional and cultural perspectives. “When the time is right, the opportunity will find you.” Looking back, Anne believes the experiences that once felt uncertain ultimately became the ones that mattered most. 

Nearly three decades after graduating from NYU, Anne continues to carry forward the questions that first emerged during her time at VAA: how museums can connect with their audiences, foster meaningful dialogue, and make more people feel they belong. For her, curating is an act of hospitality that creates space for people to encounter art and find common ground.