Rikki Byrd

Dr. Rikki Byrd serves as an Assistant Professor of Visual Culture Studies in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Art and Art History. She teaches courses including The Arts Of Hip Hop and Twentieth-Century African American Art for the 2025 academic year.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Black Studies from Northwestern University
• Master of Arts in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design
• Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri

Dr. Byrd's research centers on Black aesthetic practices, examining the intersections of 20th and 21st century art, fashion studies, and performance. Her scholarly work explores how Black communities express identity, resistance, and cultural memory through visual and sartorial practices. She approaches fashion not merely as clothing but as a critical site of cultural production, political expression, and historical documentation within the African diaspora.

Her writing has established her as a leading voice in fashion and visual culture criticism, appearing in prominent venues including Hyperallergic, Cultured, Teen Vogue, Frieze, and The New York Times. Her commentary regularly addresses the historical significance of Black fashion practices and their contemporary manifestations.

Her notable achievements include:

• Founder of the Black Fashion Archive
• Co-founder of the Fashion and Race Syllabus
• Recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation residency
• Recipient of the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation residency
• Chicago Critic's Table Fellowship recipient

As a curator, Dr. Byrd has contributed to significant exhibitions including The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Baltimore Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum, where she curated fashion presentations featuring works by Telfar, Wales Bonner, and Virgil Abloh. She is currently co-organizing Mahogany @ 50, a year-long events series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film Mahogany in Chicago. Her curatorial work consistently centers Black creativity and challenges conventional narratives in art and fashion history.

Dr. Byrd maintains active professional engagements as an editorial advisory board member for Bloomsbury Fashion Publishing and inclusivity board member for Soho House. She works between Austin and Chicago, bridging academic scholarship with public-facing cultural commentary.