{{Short description|Canadian curator}} {{Infobox person | name = Julie Crooks | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = England | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | alma_mater = St. Joseph's College School,<br> York University,<br> SOAS University of London | occupation = Curator/Head, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora | years_active = | era = | employer = Art Gallery of Ontario | organization = | known_for = | family = Charmaine Crooks (sister-in-law) }}
'''Julie Crooks''' is a Canadian curator, researcher and instructor. She has been the head of the department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario since its founding in 2020.<ref name="Adams">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Kelsey |title=The new AGO department devoted to global African art aims to combat tokenism |url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/ago-department-global-african-art |access-date=8 February 2021 |work=NOW Magazine |date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614213115/https://nowtoronto.com/culture/ago-department-global-african-art |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Biography == Crooks was born in England and is the sister-in-law of athlete Charmaine Crooks.<ref name="RonFanfair" /> She emigrated to Canada with her family in 1968 where she attended St. Joseph's College School.<ref name="RonFanfair" /> She completed an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies and a MA in English Literature at York University.<ref name="RonFanfair" /> Crooks completed her PhD at SOAS University of London in 2014.<ref name="RonFanfair" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Julie Crooks - CCL Class of 2023 |url=https://www.curatorialleadership.org/participants/ccl-program/julie-crooks/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Center for Curatorial Leadership |language=en}}</ref> Her research is focused on Sierra Leone, West Africa, and the African diaspora.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Of Africa |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/en/of-africa |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Royal Ontario Museum |language=en}}</ref> After completing her studies she was a Rebanks Post Doctoral Fellow at the Royal Ontario Museum from 2014 to 2016.<ref name="UTMBio">{{cite web |title=Julie Crooks |url=https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dvs/julie-crooks |website=www.utm.utoronto.ca |publisher=Department of Visual Studies |access-date=8 February 2021}}</ref> During that time, she co-curated the exhibit ''Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art'' with African collection curator Silvia Forni and Haitian-born researcher Dominique Fontaine.<ref name="RonFanfair" /><ref name=":0" /> The exhibit has since traveled to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Julie Crooks – Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators |url=http://middlebrookprize.ca/team/julie-crooks/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Crooks joined the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) as Assistant Curator of Photography in 2017.<ref name="AGOFourNew">{{cite web |title=Four new curators appointed at the Art Gallery of Ontario |url=https://www.ago.net/four-new-curators-appointed-at-the-art-gallery-of-ontario |website=www.ago.net |access-date=8 February 2021 |date=28 June 2017 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209215706/https://www.ago.net/four-new-curators-appointed-at-the-art-gallery-of-ontario |url-status=dead }}</ref> She curated her first exhibit ''Free Black North'' the same year.<ref name="RonFanfair">{{cite web |title=Dr. Julie Crooks is integral part of new ROM exhibit |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2018/1/17/dr-julie-crooks-is-integral-part-of-new-rom-exhibit |website=Ron Fanfair |date=17 January 2018 |access-date=8 February 2021}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Featuring photographs from the Archives of Ontario and Brock University's Archives & Special Collections, the exhibit focused on the lives of descents of Black refugees and formally enslaved people from the United States living in southern Ontario during the mid-to-late 1800s.<ref name="AGOFBN">{{cite web |title=Free Black North |url=https://ago.ca/exhibitions/free-black-north |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=8 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> She also worked an exhibit called ''Ears, Eyes, Voice: Black Canadian Photojournalists 1970s-1990s’''.<ref name="RonFanfair" /> In 2018, Crooks worked with Mickalene Thomas on a solo exhibit of the visual artist's work.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Adams2018">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Kelsey |title=Mickalene Thomas celebrates Black women at the AGO |url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/art-and-design/mickalene-thomas-ago-femmes-noires |access-date=9 February 2021 |work=NOW Magazine |date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303132645/https://nowtoronto.com/culture/art-and-design/mickalene-thomas-ago-femmes-noires/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> As photography curator, she played an integral role in the acquisition of the Montgomery Collection, which consists of more than 3,500 of historical images documenting life in the Caribbean islands.<ref name="Adams" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="Taylor">{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Kate |title=AGO makes radical move to start reflecting global Africa and the diaspora |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/article-ago-makes-radical-move-to-start-reflecting-global-africa-and-the/ |access-date=9 February 2021 |work=Glove and Mail}}</ref><ref name="Valentine">{{cite news |last1=Valentine |first1=Victoria L. |title=Culture Talk: Curator Julie Crooks on Art Gallery of Ontario's Acquisition of 3,500 Historic Caribbean Photographs |url=https://www.culturetype.com/2019/06/23/culture-talk-curator-julie-crooks-on-art-gallery-of-ontarios-acquisition-of-3500-historic-caribbean-photographs/ |access-date=9 February 2021 |date=23 June 2019}}</ref> This collection is possibly the largest collection of photographs from the Caribbean islands.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Reid |first1=Tashauna |last2=Weaver |first2=Jackson |date=June 6, 2019 <!-- 4:00 AM EDT --> |orig-date=June 6, 2019 |title=AGO acquires large collection of historical Caribbean photographs |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ago-caribbean-photography-exhibit-1.5161645 |access-date=February 8, 2024 |website=CBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-05 |title=AGO acquires world class collection of historical Caribbean photographs |url=https://ago.ca/press-release/ago-acquires-world-class-collection-historical-caribbean-photographs |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |language=en}}</ref> She is a co-founder of the Black Curators Forum, which was launched in 2019 and supports Black curators in Canada.<ref name=":0" /> She is also a founding member of Black Artists Network in Dialogue (BAND) and has curated exhibits for them.<ref name=":0" />
In 2020, the AGO named Crooks as head of the newly established department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora aimed at developing collections from the African continent and its diaspora.<ref name="Adams" /><ref name="CARoundup">{{cite news |title=News Roundup: AGO Creates New Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora |url=https://canadianart.ca/news/news-roundup-ago-creates-new-department-of-arts-of-global-africa-and-the-diaspora/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |work=Canadian Art |date=5 November 2020}}</ref>
Crooks was one of three individuals chosen as a jury sitter for the 2020 Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-17 |title=Jury – Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators |url=http://middlebrookprize.ca/about/jury/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |language=en-US}}</ref> In this role, she was tasked with selecting an artist to receive the prize of a space for their submitted exhibition or honorarium.
== Publications == *{{Cite book |last=Crooks |first=Julie |date=2014 |title=Alphonso Lisk-Carew: early photography in Sierra Leone |url=https://soas-repository.worktribe.com/output/394802 |doi=10.25501/SOAS.00018564 |via=academia.edu}}
== See also ==
* Women in the art history fields
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, Julie}} Category:Canadian art curators Category:Living people Category:People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Category:York University alumni Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London Category:Canadian art historians Category:Canadian women art historians Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Canadian women curators