Curator Legacy Russell grew up in the East Village, being dragged to the same institutions she now programs. So, if you’ve been going to exhibitions in New York and are reading the introductory plaque text, you cannot have missed her—Russell is a force in the city, of the city.
Last June, experimental art venue The Kitchen announced Russell would be their new Executive Director and Chief Curator. In September, she unveiled a sculpture with Thomas J. Price in Marcus Garvey park, and then followed that up in November with four exhibitions at MoMA PS1 for this year’s Studio Museum artist-in-residence cohort: Jacolby Satterwhite, Texas Isaiah, Widline Cadet, and Genesis Jerez. December was Russell’s solo exhibition with Kahlil Robert Irving, curated in partnership with, a 12-person group show focused on artists interested in quilting traditions and their social associations–also by Russell. Her ambitious calendar may imply that Russell is racing around, but, in fact, this recent rush of shows is emblematic of a decade spent working alongside artists while developing a pace and dialogues of her own. “[My shows] may appear as if they’re occurring quickly, but they are years and years of work and all the blood, sweat, tears, and joy inside of making sure that they can be done correctly,” Russell says. “I believe deeply in having things kind of occur at a cadence that feels holistic to the artists and to institutional life, because it’s better to have things done in a way that people feel empowered by, than to have things done quickly.”
