Audrey Sands

Audrey Sands is the Richard L. Menschel Associate Curator of Photography at the Harvard Art Museums, part of the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art. She oversees a collection of 75,000 photographs and time-based media, focusing on historical and contemporary practices. Previously, she held roles at the National Gallery of Art and the Center for Creative Photography, organizing exhibitions such as Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 and Freedom Must Be Lived: Marion Palfi’s America.

Education:

• Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Art History, Yale University
• M.St. in History of Art and Visual Culture, University of Oxford
• B.A. in Art History, Barnard College

Her research explores 20th-century American photography, emphasizing social justice, material culture, and institutional politics. Recent work includes a forthcoming book on Lisette Model and a project on the history of flash photography, supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Awards & Fellowships:

• Andy Warhol Foundation Curatorial Research Fellowship (2021)
• Smithsonian American Art Museum Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Over a dozen additional grants from institutions like the Getty Museum and MoMA

At Harvard, she develops exhibitions, public programming, and collaborates with faculty and students to integrate the collection into academic curricula. She emphasizes object-based learning and expanding global discourses around photography’s role in justice and cultural critique.