Critically acclaimed curator Meg Onli will join the Underground Museum at Los Angeles at its new director and curator.
Currently, Meg Onli serves as the associate curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Philadelphia. Onli has been a part of ICA since 2016 and has been behind a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions. Perhaps the most famous one was “Colored People Time”, an exhibition triligoy in 2019 that looked at the correlation between Black subjugation in the USA, and the community’s outlook on their present and future. Most recently, Onli launched a retrospective on Ulysses Jenkins, a filmmaker who focused on Black representation in the media.
Meg Onli will share the directorial position with Cristina Pacheco, who currently serves as the COO of the museum. Pacheco has served as one of the key figures in the history of the museum. She was also serving as the interim director of the museum when the post was vacant.
The Underground Museum in L.A. was founded by the couple Noah and Karon Davis in 2012. The artistic couple founded the institution with the vision of bringing the art from the underrepresented communities to the fore. The museum has won particular renown for the focus on Black artists, and serves as one of the key places in L.A.’s art scene. After Noah Davis’s death due to cancer in 2015, the museum transformed into a non-profit institute.
In a statement, Karon Davis (co-founder, Underground Museum) said:
“Meg and Cristina bring the vision, collaboration, and efficacy to bring The Underground Museum to the next level. With this new powerhouse team, our bigger dreams will be realized.”
