Rhea L. Combs

Dr. Rhea L. Combs is the Senior Fellow in Contemporary and Global Art at the BMA. This two-year, independent fellowship will emphasize the future of curatorial practice and consider new models for the study and presentation of art that are rooted in cultural equity, global collaboration, and the unique qualities of contemporary practice to advance meaningful change within the field and beyond. Within her work, Combs will focus on opportunities to amplify historically marginalized voices, international cultural exchange, and community engagement.

The fellowship is designed to evolve in response to direct dialogue and collaboration with artists, collectives, and institutions in the U.S, Canada, Europe, and across the African diaspora. Given the intentionally responsive nature of the fellowship, it may culminate in the development of a book, an international cultural convening, or a range of exhibition concepts. The fellowship is generously funded by the Ford Foundation and The Hearthland Foundation, as part of each foundation’s own investments in cultivating visionary leaders and supporting cultural production.

Combs has dedicated her career to exploring how visual culture can shape our shared history. An award-winning curator, she brings more than two decades of curatorial and museum experience to her new fellowship. Most recently, Combs served as the Director of Curatorial Affairs and Chief Curator at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (2021 – 2026). In this role, she led the museum’s curatorial and conservation teams, guided the acquisitions and exhibitions strategy, shepherded high-profile portrait commissions, and helped raise more than $3.5M for a range of projects. Among her recent curatorial projects are American Winners: Athletes and Entertainers that Helped Shape the Nation (2025) and This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance (2024–2025), in collaboration with author and curator Hilton Als. She also co-curated Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, which was presented at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and traveled to the Detroit Institute of the Arts (2022-2024).

Previously, Combs was the Senior Curator of Photography and Film and the founding director of the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA) at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. There, her work centered on Black visual traditions, cultural memory, and representation through photography and film. She was instrumental in building one of the most comprehensive collections of African American visual culture in the nation and curated numerous exhibitions, including Now Showing: African American Movie Posters (2019–21) and Represent: Hip Hop Photography (2018–2019), among others.

Combs’s writings have appeared in numerous publications and exhibition catalogues, including for the publication accompanying Amy Sherald: American Sublime. She has served on art juries, given numerous public presentations throughout the country including at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Metropolitan Museum of Art, and independently curated exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and ICA London. Additionally, Combs has experience as an administrator in higher education and taught courses in visual culture, American studies, film and gender at Emory University, Lewis & Clark College, and Chicago State University. She holds a PhD in American Studies from Emory University, an MA from Cornell University, and a BA from Howard University.