Arts & Culture
Bahamian awarded prestigious fellowship at SLAM
By DionneBenjamin-Smith
Nov 14, 2014 - 8:10:03 AM


This summer, the St Louis Art Museum (SLAM) welcomed Bahamian art educator Jordia C. Benjamin,the 2014-15 Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellow. Benjamin completed a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida in May and holds both a bachelor’s degree in Art History and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of South Florida. She joined the Museum from the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, where she served as the educational officer, developing educational and tour programmes.

Benjamin is the Museum’s 21st Bearden Fellow. This one-year paid fellowship is designed to prepare minority graduate students seeking careers as art historians and museum professionals. Through this fellowship, Benjamin will gain valuable hands-on experience working throughout a world-class Museum structure in various departments while specific assignments are tailored to her particular background, interests, and the Museum’s needs.

SLAM’s Director Brent Benjamin expressed, “The Saint Louis Art Museum is pleased to welcome Jordia as our 21st Bearden Fellow, who was selected based upon her excellent credentials.”

“This fellowship is an important initiative for the Museum as it creates a pathway to success for talented young museum professionals such as Jordia,” added Mr Benjamin.

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Renee Franklin,SLAM’s community partnerships director and current manager of the Fellowship, states that the long term goal of the programme is “to build a pool of talented young minority professionals to work in art museums, galleries, and arts organizations, as well as in universities.”

The Fellowship, named for African American artist Romare Bearden, was established with a gift from donors to the Museum. Since the programme’s inception, Bearden Fellows have spent their year at the Museum teaching, doing research, delivering talks, and writing gallery materials. Several Fellows curated exhibitions and assisted with the reinstallation of collections. Above all, the Fellows have represented the Museum at events throughout the St. Louis community.

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