{{Short description|American curator}} {{Infobox person | name = Meg Onli | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1983|12|12}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | alma_mater = School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA)<br />Courtauld Institute of Art (MA) | occupation = curator, writer | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Meg Onli''' (born December 12, 1983) is an African-American art curator and writer who has held curatorial roles at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art. Her curatorial work primarily revolves around the black experience, language, and constructions of power and space.<ref name="Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia">{{Cite web|date=2016-06-14|title=Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia|url=https://icaphila.org/staff-members/meg-onli/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA|language=en-US}}</ref> Her writing has been published in Art21, Daily Serving, and Art Papers.<ref name="artswriters.org">{{Cite web|title=Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant|url=https://www.artswriters.org/grant/grantees/grantee/meg_onli|access-date=2021-01-25|website=www.artswriters.org}}</ref><ref name="Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia"/> In September 2022, it was announced that Onli would co-curate the 2024 Whitney Biennial with Chrissie Iles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=2022-09-29 |title=Closely Watched Curators Chrissie Iles, Meg Onli to Organize 2024 Whitney Biennial |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/chrissie-iles-meg-onli-2024-whitney-biennial-1234641140/ |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Education == Meg Onli, was born on December 12, 1983, and raised in Los Angeles, California.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nash|first=Suzi|date=2016-12-22|title=Meg Onli: Art, activism and their intersection|url=https://epgn.com/2016/12/22/meg-onli-art-activism-and-their-intersection/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Philadelphia Gay News|language=en-US}}</ref> She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in photography and a minor in Art History at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Graduate Photo Catalogue 2016 {{!}} SAIC Digital Collections|url=https://digitalcollections.saic.edu/islandora/object/islandora:79166#page/4/mode/2up|access-date=2021-01-25|website=digitalcollections.saic.edu}}</ref> She later participated in the AICA Art Writing Workshop in 2012<ref name="artswriters.org"/> and received her master's degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2014.<ref name="Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia"/>
== Early work == From 2006 to 2010, Onli was the associate producer of the Chicago-based art and culture podcast and blog "Bad at Sports," an online blog and podcast where writers and artists discuss different contemporary artists, exhibitions, and artworks that shape the present and future of art.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bad at Sports {{!}} Contemporay art talk without the ego|url=http://badatsports.com/|access-date=2021-03-15|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="artswriters.org"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Erikson|first=Beth|date=2017-10-09|title=12 Top Art Podcasts to Add to Your List|url=https://www.artistsnetwork.com/artist-life/12-art-podcasts-inspiration/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Artists Network|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2010, Onli founded the "Black Visual Archive" which was a collection of online documents and reviews of contemporary black and post-black visual culture based in Chicago, IL.<ref name="artswriters.org"/> The archive consisted of articles, reviews, and interviews that surveyed the works of Chicago-based artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Theaster Gates, etc., and hosted a collection of writings that discussed the work of black artists and cultural workers throughout history.<ref name="artswriters.org"/>
Onli later served as the Program Coordinator at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts located in Chicago, IL.<ref name=leeway>{{Cite web|title=Meg Onli LTA '18|url=https://www.leeway.org/grantees/meg_onli_lta_18/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Leeway Foundation}}</ref><ref name="Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia"/> At the Graham Foundation, she assisted in the showcasing of the “Architecture of Independence: African Modernism” at the Graham Foundation space. Originated by the Vitra Design Museum and curated by Manuel Herz, "Architecture of Independence: African Modernism” was an exploration of the complex history and legacy of modernist architecture in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=African Modernism - Architecture of Independence, Manuel Herz Architects|url=http://www.manuelherz.com/african-modernism-architecture-of-independence|access-date=2021-01-25|website=www.manuelherz.com}}</ref> At the Graham Foundation, Onli also assisted in the showcasing of the first “Barbara Kasten: Stages” project installation (2016–2017). Originated and curated by Curator Alex Klein, the “Barbara Kasten: Stages” project exhibition showcased Barbara Kasten's five-decade engagement with abstraction, light, and architectural form.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Graham Foundation > Exhibitions > Barbara Kasten: Stages|url=http://www.grahamfoundation.org/public_exhibitions/5399-barbara-kasten-stages|access-date=2021-01-25|website=www.grahamfoundation.org}}</ref>
== Contributions to Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art == thumb|Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia Onli is currently serving as Andrea B. Laporte Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. She is the first black woman to serve as curator at Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art. Exhibitions she curated include “Speech/Acts” (2017) and all three chapters of “Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019).<ref name=icaphila/><ref name=shape>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-01|title=Who Will Shape the Art World in 2021?: ARTnews Presents 'The Deciders'|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/shaping-art-2021-deciders-1234577339/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=ccs>{{Cite web|title=Meg Onli|url=https://ccs.bard.edu/people/2607-meg-onli|access-date=2021-01-25|website=CCS Bard|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art Promotes Meg Onli to Associate Curator|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/philadelphia-s-institute-of-contemporary-art-promotes-meg-onli-to-associate-curator-80956|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.artforum.com|date=3 October 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== “Speech/Acts” (2017) === “Speech/Acts” (2017) was an exhibition program series that explored how the social and cultural constructs of language have shaped black experiences.<ref name=shape/><ref name=leeway/> Consisting of poetry and visual works, the exhibit showcased new and recent artworks from emerging artists Jibade-Khalil Hu man, Steffani Jemison, Tony Lewis, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Martine Syms. “Speech/Acts” (2017) also hosted special programs and reading room spotlighting writings of poets Claudia Rankine, Morgan Parker, and Simone White, among others.<ref name=icaphila>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-28|title=Speech/Acts - ICA Philadelphia|url=https://icaphila.org/press_releases/speech-acts/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA|language=en-US}}</ref> The Speech/Acts reading group met over six Saturday afternoons in the fall discussing listed syllabus texts and exploring what the writings illuminated and provoked. In addition to the exhibition, a fully illustrated catalog, co-published with Futurepoem, was released featuring reprints of seminal texts by Fred Moten and Harryette Mullen, newly commissioned poetry by Morgan Parker and Simone White, and an essay by Meg Onli.<ref>Onli, Meg. ''Speech/acts'' First edition. New York, NY ;: Futurepoem Books, 2017.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-23|title=Speech/Acts|url=https://wsimag.com/culture/33197-speech-slash-acts|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Wall Street International|language=en}}</ref>
=== “Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019) === “Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019) was a three-chapter series that explored the impact of colonialism and slavery on blackness in the past, present and the future.<ref name=colored>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-06|title=Colored People Time - ICA Philadelphia|url=https://icaphila.org/books/colored-people-time/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Copeland|first=Huey|date=May 2019|title=Huey Copeland in conversation with Meg Onli|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/201905/huey-copeland-in-conversation-with-meg-onli-79522|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-25|website=www.artforum.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-09|title=Curator Meg Onli Considers the Potential of Black Futures with a Trilogy-based Exhibition|url=https://www.culturedmag.com/colored-people-time/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Cultured Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> The series of exhibitions featured works by Martine Syms, Cameron Rowland, Carolyn Lazard, Sable Elyse Smith, Kevin Jerome Everson, Dave McKenzie, Aria Dean, Matthew Angelo Harrison, with historical texts from the Black Panther Party, Sutton E. Griggs, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Onli|first1=Meg|title=Colored People Time|last2=Johnson|first2=Amber Rose (Editor)|last3=McInerney|first3=John (Foreword by)|last4=Dean|first4=Aria Dean (Text by)|last5=Ewing|first5=Eve L. (Text by)|publisher=Institute of Contemporary ArtG, University of Pennsylvania|year=2020|isbn=9780884541493|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|pages=}}</ref><ref name=colored/>
“Colored People Time” (2019) was staged in three consecutive exhibitions. The first installment titled “Mundane Futures” featuring installations by Martine Syms whose work focused the subject of black futures as one inevitably tied the past of slavery and colonialism.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Institute of Contemporary Art at Penn ponders comforts of the bland|url=https://whyy.org/articles/jumping-on-the-bland-wagon-at-institute-of-contemporary-art/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=WHYY|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=colored/> In the second presentation, “Quotidian Pasts,” artist Matthew Angelo Harrison collaborated with both the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Monique Renee Scott, a specialist in the display of artifacts from the African diaspora, to stage an exhibition addressing the complexities of collecting and displaying objects acquired by way of colonialism.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Malone|first=Devin|date=2019-07-09|title=Colored People Time: Quotidian Pasts|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2019/07/artseen/Colored-People-Time-Quotidian-Pasts-ICA-Philadelphia-April-26-2019-August-11-2019|access-date=2021-01-25|website=The Brooklyn Rail|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=colored/> The final exhibition, “Banal Presents,” showcased the work of Sable Elyse Smith, Cameron Rowland, and Carolyn Lazard, interpreting how the ideas from the previous two installations exist within the present moment. A publication features written responses to the exhibition, along with a republishing of Syms’ Manifesto.<ref>Reid, Tiana. Art in America. Jan2020, Vol. 108 Issue 1, p82-83. 2p. 1 Color Photograph. {{issn|0004-3214}}.</ref><ref name=colored/><ref>{{Cite web|last=jvolpe|date=2018-06-18|title=Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents - GRANT|url=https://www.pewcenterarts.org/grant/colored-people-time-mundane-futures-quotidian-pasts-and-banal-presents|access-date=2019-12-09|website=The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Reid|first=Tiana|date=2019-12-19|title=In "Banal Presents," Three Black Artists Intervene in Vast Social Institutions, from the Prison System to Education|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/colored-people-time-banal-presents-ica-philadelphia-cameron-rowland-1202673043/|access-date=2021-01-19|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
Onli left her position at ICA Philadelphia in October 2021 to join Underground Museum in Los Angeles as director and curator.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haigney |first=Sophie |date=2021-10-11 |title=Underground Museum Looks to Philadelphia Curator |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/arts/design/underground-museum-meg-onli.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Onli served in that capacity until March 2022 when the museum closed.
==Whitney Museum of American Art== Following Onli's departure from Underground Museum, it was announced that she would co-curate the 2024 Whitney Biennial with Chrissie Iles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=2022-09-29 |title=Closely Watched Curators Chrissie Iles, Meg Onli to Organize 2024 Whitney Biennial |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/chrissie-iles-meg-onli-2024-whitney-biennial-1234641140/ |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In June 2023, Onli joined the Whitney as Curator-At-Large and it was announced she'd be a curator for the museum's forthcoming Roy Lichtenstein show in 2026.<ref name="Aton23">{{Cite web |last=Aton |first=Francesca |date=2023-06-20 |title=New York's Whitney Museum Appoints Meg Onli as Curator-at-Large, Promotes Laura Phipps to Associate Curator |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/whitney-museum-of-art-new-york-curator-appointments-june-2023-1234671962/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In November 2024, Onli was appointed as the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator where she will lead the painting and sculpture acquisition committee and contribute to curatorial projects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Whitney Press Release 11/18/2024 |url=https://whitneymedia.org/assets/generic_file/4107/Meg_Onli_-_Nancy_and_Fred_Poses_Curator_-_Press_Release.pdf |access-date=April 21, 2025 |website=Whitney Museum of American Art}}</ref>
== Recognition == Onli has received the following fellowships and awards:
* Art Writers Grant from the Creative Capital and Warhol Foundation (2013)<ref>Art in America. Feb2013, Vol. 101 Issue 2, p120-120. 1/8p. {{issn|0004-3214}}.</ref><ref name=ccs/><ref name=icaphila/> * Graham Foundation Individual Research Grant from the Graham Foundation (2014)<ref name=ccs/><ref name=icaphila/> * Transformation Award from the Leeway Foundation (2018)<ref name=leeway/> * Curatorial Fellowship from the Warhol Foundation (2018)<ref>{{Cite web|title=January 2019 – The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts|url=http://blog.warholfoundation.org/2019/01/|access-date=2021-03-15|language=en-US}}</ref> * Figure Skating Prize (2021)<ref>{{cite news |title=Curator Meg Onli wins inaugural prize aimed at advancing racial equity in the arts |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/inaugural-figure-skating-prize-awarded-to-curator-meg-onli |access-date=May 30, 2021 |work=The Art Newspaper |date=April 26, 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Onli, Meg}} Category:American art curators Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:American women curators