Phillip Townsend

Dr. Phillip Townsend serves as Lecturer in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department and Curator of Art at the Art Galleries at Black Studies (AGBS) within the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the same institution.

Educational background:

• Ph.D. in Art History, The University of Texas at Austin

His research critically examines Art and Visual Culture of the African Diaspora through frameworks of race, gender, and sexuality, with emphasis on identity politics, curatorial ethics, and museum studies. Dr. Townsend investigates how visual representation intersects with systemic power structures while advancing inclusive exhibition practices.

As AGBS Curator, he has orchestrated major exhibitions including Notes on Sugar: The Work of María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Like the Lonely Traveler: Video Works by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Charles White: Celebrating the Gordon Gift, Wura-Natasha Ogunji: earth, body, spirit, Melvin Edwards: WIRE(D) + CHAIN(ED), Michael A. Booker: Wave Patterns, Alicia Henry: (un)knowing, Nicole Awai: In the thick of it, and Rashaun Rucker: Patron Saints of a Black Boy, establishing rigorous platforms for Black artistic voices.

No scientific awards were documented in the provided materials.

Dr. Townsend instructs AFR 335Q: Blackness Contmp Art Museum and AFR 370: Blackness In Cont Art Museum, focusing on ethical frameworks in contemporary museum practice, though specific student advising relationships and research grants remain unreported.

He directs all curatorial operations at AGBS, developing exhibition programs that center African diasporic perspectives through collaborative community engagement and critical art historical scholarship.