Erika N. Witt is an independent museologist based in New Orleans, engaged primarily with collections management and museum education. Her main focus is in the arts of Africa and the African diaspora, with a specialization in Kemetic visual expressions. Her goal is to make museums more meaningful, impactful, and inclusive to underserved communities as well as educating communities on traditional African art history.
Erika has developed numerous exhibitions of art and history and cared for various collections in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Virginia. Her recent works include collections management at the Harrison Museum of African American History, New Orleans Public Library, McKenna Museum of African American Art, Southern University at New Orleans, the Andrew Johnson Museum and Library, and Ashe Cultural Arts Center. Her recent exhibitions include Adorned: the Ancient Art of Tattooing, Eritrea: Art and Culture, Celebrating a Legacy: Selected Works from the Southern University at New Orleans African Art Collections, and African Art from the Howard and Julia Pence Collection.
Erika received a Bachelor's degree in Museum Studies with a concentration in History from Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, and a Master of Art in Museum Studies and Cultural Preservation from Southern University at New Orleans. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Louisiana State University College of Art +Design Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation program with a minor concentration in archival studies. Her research focuses on the appreciation of traditional African art in cultural institutions throughout the city of New Orleans and historically black colleges and universities around the nation. Erika is also a 2014 fellow of the East-West Art of Dialogue Initiative, an initiative by the Shafik Gabr Foundation to enhance critical understanding and cooperation amongst young emerging leaders in the Arab World and the West through global exchanges.
Image:
Ngaady A mWaash Mask
20th Century
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Southern University at New Orleans African Art Collections
