Cassandra Mesick Braun, Curator of Global and Indigenous Art
Research Interests
- Indigeneity, race, and multiculturalism
- art and medicine
- contemporary Indigenous art
Significant & Ongoing Projects
Cassandra Mesick Braun joined the Spencer Museum as the curator of global indigenous art in 2012 after earning her doctorate in anthropology from Brown University. At the Spencer, Mesick Braun oversees a diverse collection of art and material culture from the Americas, Africa, and Oceania, which she integrates into the exhibition, programming, and teaching mission of the Museum. Her curatorial practice is interdisciplinary and collaborative and often incorporates her broad interests in Indigeneity and multiculturalism, art and medicine, contemporary Indigenous art, and social justice in museum settings. In 2017, she co-directed a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture project for K-12 educators focused on exploring the educational experiences of Native American and African-American communities in Kansas and curated related exhibition, Separate and Not Equal: A History of Race and Education in America. She has also been a co-director for a Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar “Chronic Conditions: Knowing, Seeing, and Healing the Body in Global Africa,” a yearlong interdisciplinary speakers series that investigates the historical, structural, and cultural processes that have given rise to racially-based health disparities that persist until today. Recent exhibition highlights include The Ties that Bind: Haiti, the United States, and the Art of Ulrick Jean-Pierre, co-curated with Professor Cécile Accilien; and Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body, which explores the enduring fascination with the human body in its many physiological, psychological, and symbolic dimensions. In addition to her role at the Spencer, Mesick Braun serves as affiliate faculty in the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Museum Studies Program at the University of Kansas and has been an active member of the Indigenous Cultures Festival committee and Native Faculty Staff Council.