• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / News / Arts and Recreation / Kantara Souffrant knows the Milwaukee Art Museum isn’t for everyone. Her new job is to change that.

Kantara Souffrant knows the Milwaukee Art Museum isn’t for everyone. Her new job is to change that.

December 1, 2020 by PrincessSafiya Byers Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

“It’s my job to make sure everyone feels respected and accepted in the space,” says Kantara Souffrant, the incoming curator of community dialogue for the Milwaukee Art Museum. “That includes understanding the barriers that keep people from experiencing the Milwaukee Art Museum.” (Photo by Rosen-Jones Photography)

Kantara Souffrant believes that art demonstrates what people value.

And as the incoming curator of community dialogue for the Milwaukee Art Museum, it’s her job to ensure community engagement is a focus of programming at the museum through partnerships with Milwaukee’s art community and the community at large.

“I use art as a way to look at structure, access and community,” said Souffrant, who will start in January. “It’s one way of measuring how a community is doing.”

An artist-scholar and a museum educator, Souffrant earned a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University and serves as an assistant professor of global/non-Western art history and visual culture at Illinois State University.

From 2015 to 2018, she was the manager of the school and teacher program at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where she connected students with art in the museum’s collection and revitalized the training and educational materials for the museum’s Haitian art collection.

While at Illinois State University, her research interests included Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. As the daughter of two Haitian immigrants, Souffrant, 34, said the museum’s Haitian art collection showed her a history she didn’t know.

‘A lot of learning and unpacking to do’

One of her goals is to make sure everyone feels welcome at the museum.

“I understand that it hasn’t traditionally seemed accessible to Black, brown and low-income people,” she said. “It’s my job to make sure everyone feels respected and accepted in the space. That includes understanding the barriers that keep people from experiencing the Milwaukee Art Museum.”

Marcelle Polednik, the Donna and Donald Baumgartner director at the museum, said Souffrant’s role serves “as a critical piece to the important work the museum needs to start doing — today.”

Megan McGee, a friend of Souffrant’s and the executive director of Ex-Fabula, a nonprofit that uses storytelling to connect communities, said Souffrant’s work involves breaking down cultural barriers.

“Many institutions like the art museum are grounded in whiteness,” McGee said. “If we want those institutions to serve everyone, there is a lot of learning and unpacking to do, and that is what Kantara’s work is about.”

McGee said Souffrant’s warm and authentic personality is one reason she is good for this position.

“Whenever I hear her speak, I learn so much,” McGee said. “She makes history come alive.”

Souffrant will also serve on the museum’s senior leadership team, helping to make art relevant to Milwaukee’s diverse communities, addressing social issues through art and being responsible for off-site projects.

“Kantara is genuinely interested in making connections,” said Marcela “Xela” Garcia, the executive director of Walker’s Point Center for the Arts. “She is someone that will approach the work in an honest and genuine way.”

Garcia and Souffrant met when Souffrant originally worked at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

“She showed up when it wasn’t required,” Garcia said. “She is interested in seeing Milwaukee become a better place.”

“It is my goal to leave the community in a better place than when I came,” Souffrant said.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Arts and Recreation, Carousel, Home, Neighborhoods, News

PrincessSafiya Byers

About PrincessSafiya Byers

Facebook | More stories from PrincessSafiya

Princess Safiya Byers was born and raised in Milwaukee, and is a 2020 graduate of Marquette University, majoring in Journalism and Africana Studies. Her commitment to her community has led her to nonprofit work with local youth and families. She’s also interned with the Milwaukee Community Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and joins Milwaukee NNS as a Report for America Staff Reporter looking to serve democracy by covering issues important to the community.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in