Meg Onli

Meg Onli is the Andrea B. Laporte Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and serves as a visiting professor at Williams College. She earned her BFA in 2008 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Her curatorial practice centers on contemporary art with emphasis on Black experimental poetry, African American cultural production, and social justice initiatives.

Onli's research interests focus on:

• Black futures and mundane Afrofuturism beyond traditional frameworks
• Race, time perception, and cultural production
• The intersection of language, power, and Black experimental practices
• Contemporary art as social intervention in institutions
• Abolitionist practices in community organizing

Her major curatorial projects demonstrate a consistent intellectual trajectory examining how Black artists navigate systems of power through everyday practices. The 'Colored People Time' trilogy (2019-2020) used the black vernacular phrase to explore how dominant notions of time control Black experiences across historical and contemporary contexts. Her exhibitions often feature artists who intervene in social institutions like the prison system and educational frameworks, creating critical dialogues about race, time, and institutional structures.

Her significant projects include:

• Jessica Vaughn: Our Primary Focus Is to Be Successful (2021)
• Ulysses Jenkins: Without Your Interpretation (2021, co-curated with Erin Christovale)
• Colored People Time trilogy (2019-2020)
• Speech/Acts (2017)
• Art for Philadelphia initiative (2020)

Onli's contributions to the field have been recognized with prestigious awards:

• 2012 Creative Capital Andy | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
• 2014 Graham Foundation grant
• 2019 Transformation Award from the Leeway Foundation
• Warhol Foundation curatorial fellowship

She founded Art for Philadelphia in summer 2020, which raised over $100,000 for community-led abolitionist organizations through limited-edition artist prints. As a member of the Racial Imaginary Institute's Curatorial Team and a visiting professor at Williams College, Onli bridges institutional curation with academic discourse and community engagement, creating spaces for critical dialogue about race, power, and cultural production.