On the Porch: Noah Smalls: A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Art World

Noah Smalls is a curator, exhibition designer, gallery director, and consultant committed to advancing equity and social impact in the arts. He currently serves as Director of Exhibitions and Collections Management at the Williams College Museum of Art and as Gallery Director at Rush Arts in Philadelphia. He also leads Smalls Museum Consulting, advising institutions such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Professional Alliance of Curators of Color, and the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. Smalls co-curated Mural Arts Philadelphia’s fellowship for Black artists and recently guest curated an acclaimed exhibition with artist Clifford Ward at Grounds for Sculpture, on view through January. Over the past year, he has presented on academic panels at the Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists (ARCS) Conference, the College Art Association (CAA) Conference, and the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Smalls is widely respected for championing museums as platforms for education, community engagement, and institutional transformation.