Leadership
Miguel Limon is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, and cultural worker with a focus on image-making, decolonial educational practice, and youth work in Chicago’s underserved communities. Miguel holds a BS in Education and Museum Studies from DePaul University in Chicago and is pursuing a MA in Museum Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Therese Quinn (she/they) directs the Museum and Exhibition Studies Program at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her most recent book is School: Questions About Museums, Culture and Justice to Explore in Your Classroom (2020, Teachers College Press), and she has published other writings widely, including in American Quarterly, the Journal of Critical Military Studies, the Journal of Museum Education, and the Monthly Review.
Art & Design
Cory Williams is a first year grad student working on his masters in Art History. He holds undergraduate degrees in Photography and Art History from Harrington College of Design and Cleveland State University respectively.
His research explores queer artists of the modern era with a focus on the evolution in depictions of queer life and desire, particularly during the AIDS crisis. He has served in collection management positions at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and with the photojournalist Art Shay.
His research explores queer artists of the modern era with a focus on the evolution in depictions of queer life and desire, particularly during the AIDS crisis. He has served in collection management positions at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and with the photojournalist Art Shay.
Inmagela is a trans nonbinary person from the Dominican Republic and second-year Fulbright student for the Master in Museum and Exhibitions (MUSE) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). They were a fellow for the Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program Graduate Summer Fellowship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Chicago Creatives for Justice Arts Fellowship with Grassroots Collaborative Chicago; earned Cook County Master Naturalist training with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago Wilderness Midwestern Ecological Prescription Burn Crew Member Training with Lake County Forest Preserves. Inma is an activist, artist, researcher and volunteer. Their research work includes imperialism, Caribbean art, social and environmental justice, education, visual anthropology, social history, among others.
Alena Alekseeva is a Russian-born independent curator, educator, and writer whose focus is on the study of contemporary art, artists, and contemporary art museums. In 2023, Alena was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Museum Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2024, she became a finalist in the Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program.
In 2019, Alena founded an online art school where she serves as a teacher. Since 2020, Alena has organized over 15 exhibitions in various cities across Russia.
In 2019, Alena founded an online art school where she serves as a teacher. Since 2020, Alena has organized over 15 exhibitions in various cities across Russia.
Social media
Akaelah is a second-year MUSE student currently based in Chicago,IL. They have a Bachelor's degree in History with a minor in Queer Ethnic studies. Akaelah’s interests are in bringing a Black and gender non-comforming lens to Queer history and building networks outside of institutions in order to create sustainable and inclusive spaces for learning. They have served in roles at the GLBT Historical Society, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and the
Museum of Contemporary Art. Akaelah has had writing published in both Afropunk and the SevenGill Shark Review.
Museum of Contemporary Art. Akaelah has had writing published in both Afropunk and the SevenGill Shark Review.
Josefina is a Chicago-based Museum Educator. She received her BA in Anthropology and Sociology. She is a second-year graduate student in peruse of a MA in Museum and Exhibition studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Josefina currently works as a Teen Programs Educator at the Chicago Architecture Center. Her research explores educational museum practices, representation, and youth engagement and interaction in museum spaces. Josefina aims to create change in closing the gap between museums and underrepresented communities throughout Chicago.
Josie Newcomb double majored in History and Religious Studies in her hometown at UW-Milwaukee. As a second-year MUSE student, she is writing her thesis on radical joy and solidarity in museum spaces. Josie is passionate about local history and organizing, collections work, and natural history - she loves minerals and taxidermy!
Photo done by Alejandro Wilson (Oxblood Junction)
Magic Smith (they/it) is a queer disabled leather historian, artist, and educator that holds a focus on preserving historians of marginalised communities and making spaces accessible. They hold a BS in Psychology and a BA in History with minors in French and Studio Art from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas and are currently pursuing their Masters in Museum and Exhibition Studies and UIC.
As an educator and artist some of its most recent projects have included the creation of Queer Artists of Wichita, a group made to encourage hobbyist and professional artists in Wichita Kansas to engage with each other and working with the Pragmatically Kinking, an alternative lifestyle organisation aimed at educating on relationship dynamics and mental health.
As a researcher Magic holds interest in the queer leather community and their contributions to HIV/AIDS education and activism. Magic plans on beginning an oral history project for their capstone project to preserve the experience from those in the community.
Magic Smith (they/it) is a queer disabled leather historian, artist, and educator that holds a focus on preserving historians of marginalised communities and making spaces accessible. They hold a BS in Psychology and a BA in History with minors in French and Studio Art from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas and are currently pursuing their Masters in Museum and Exhibition Studies and UIC.
As an educator and artist some of its most recent projects have included the creation of Queer Artists of Wichita, a group made to encourage hobbyist and professional artists in Wichita Kansas to engage with each other and working with the Pragmatically Kinking, an alternative lifestyle organisation aimed at educating on relationship dynamics and mental health.
As a researcher Magic holds interest in the queer leather community and their contributions to HIV/AIDS education and activism. Magic plans on beginning an oral history project for their capstone project to preserve the experience from those in the community.
Outreach & Development
Molly Fulop (they/she) is an Educational Psychology doctoral student at UIC and a Graduate Research Assistant for The LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project. Their work explores LGBTQ+ intergenerational collaborative artmaking and Florida art museums’ role in combating LGBTQ+ censorship. They received an MA in Art Education from SAIC in 2023.
Zaynab Hilal is a first-gen Arab American from Houston, TX, who holds a B.S. in Anthropology with minors in Sociology and India Studies from the University of Houston. Currently completing her Master's in Museum and Exhibitions Studies at the UIC, she's dedicated to social, environmental, and art activism, aspiring to empower underrepresented artists as an emerging curator.
