“Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love” Closing Celebration \ Ballroom Culture with Rashaad Newsome

Join us for a conversation with Natasha Becker, curator of African art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome. They will explore the influence, impact, and legacies of ballroom culture in Harlem and New York City and artists who, like Patrick Kelly, were inspired by it. About the Speakers Natasha Becker, born and raised in South Africa, joined the Museums in December 2020. Working in Cape Town, South Africa and New York City, over the past decade, she has focused on presenting the work of African artists, African American artists, and artists of the African diaspora, organizing numerous exhibitions and international initiatives. She worked at the Clark Institute for seven years as the assistant director for Mellon Initiatives and, more recently, as co-curator at the new Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice Art Gallery. She has also served as a curatorial adviser at the Face Foundation, curator in residence at Faction Art Projects in Harlem, and senior curator at the Goodman Gallery in South Africa. Natasha is one of the cofounders of Assembly Room, a curatorial platform for the advancement of women curators and artists in New York. She holds a master’s in African history from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa, and studied art history at Binghamton University, New York. Rashaad Newsome’s work blends several practices, including collage, sculpture, film, photography, music, computer programming,