Sandra Jackson-Dumont will lead the eagerly awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art when it opens its doors in 2025.
She took on the role in January 2020, and later that year announced a series of leadership appointments, bringing six women on board, including a chief curator, five of whom are people of colour.
“I’m an advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, that’s a huge part of who I am,” she said at the time, speaking to the LA Times. “But when I’m hiring, I’m looking for the best and most qualified candidates — and that was them.
“As we strive to become a vital source of education, inspiration, and dialogue for our close neighbors around Exposition Park, all the communities of Los Angeles, and people around the world, we could not be more thrilled with the team we have been able to recruit, and we are immensely proud to announce.”
Jackson-Dumont comes to the new museum following an extensive museum career, including six years as the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and eight years at Seattle Art Museum as deputy director for education + public programs/adjunct curator. She has also previously held roles at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
She will lead the curatorial, museum experience, education and collection management teams at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will hold a collection of 100,000 works of art in the collections—including original illustrations, paintings, comic art, photography, and the arts of filmmaking, within a brand-new building in L.A.’s Exposition Park.
“The work that Sandra has done throughout her extensive museum career is impressive and we look forward to her leadership,” said George Lucas, co-founder of the Lucas Museum, philanthropist, and filmmaker. “We want the Lucas Museum to be a vital resource for our community and we believe Sandra will help us achieve that goal.”
Jackson-Dumont has a BA in Art History from Sonoma State University and an MA in Art History from Howard University.