Nicole R. Fleetwood

Nicole R. Fleetwood is the inaugural James Weldon Johnson Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University's Steinhardt School. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. Her work bridges art criticism, African American studies, and social justice advocacy.

Research focuses on Black art history, mass incarceration’s cultural impacts, and visual activism. Her landmark book Marking Time (2020) won major awards including the National Book Critics Award. She curates exhibitions like the MoMA PS1 show Marking Time, recognized by New York Times and New Yorker.

• Areas of expertise: Prison aesthetics, racial iconography, photography studies
• Key platforms: Aperture magazine (co-edited 'Prison Nation'), Artforum, Public Culture

Her current project is a nonfiction book Between the River and Railroad Tracks (forthcoming from Little, Brown). She has been supported by prestigious fellowships including the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center and Mellon Foundation grants.

Award-winning educator and public intellectual, Fleetwood's work appears in major journals and art catalogues. She serves as Genevieve Young Writing Fellow at the Gordon Parks Foundation and co-curates exhibitions on incarceration themes across museums and public spaces.