In Conversation: Chad Dawkins, Martina Dodd, Nadia Scott

Martina Dodd is an art historian and curator who specializes in the preservation, study, and expansion of African American-centered collections. She is currently the Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at the Banneker Douglass Tubman Museum, Maryland’s official state museum for African American History and Culture. Prior to this role, Dodd served as the Program Director of Curation and Object-Based Learning at the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library for six years.

Throughout her career, Dodd has cultivated cross-institutional partnerships and utilized innovative object-based learning pedagogy to engage diverse audiences with cultural heritage collections. With expertise in African and African Diasporan arts, she connects art with archival materials to provide nuanced interpretations of the contemporary experiences, contributions, and culture of African Americans.

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Dodd has curated exhibitions for esteemed institutions such as the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, Banneker Douglass Tubman Museum, Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center, and the DC Arts Center. Most recently, she curated the permanent exhibition The Andrews Family Legacy: Rooted in the Agriculture and Arts of Morgan County (2024). This exhibition explores the cultural impact of renowned artist Benny Andrews and his family, showcasing original drawings and paintings by Benny and his father, George "The Dot Man" Andrews alongside archival materials and historical records to honor a lineage of African-American artists, writers, and civil servants who have made significant contributions to the agriculture and arts of their region.

Nadia Scott is a History PhD student at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on how visual culture impacts identity formation, nation-building, cultural nationalism, and ideas of citizenship. In 2024 she graduated valedictorian and summa cum laude from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia with a BA in History and a minor in Curatorial Studies. During her time at Spelman, Scott became a member of the 2022 cohort of the UNCF Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Additionally, she interned at the digital e-learning company Smarthistory and the education department of Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. In 2023, Scott interned with the Andrews-Humphrey Family Foundation. During this time, she curated her debut exhibition, Crisscrosses: Benny Andrews and the Poetry of Langston Hughes. Which was on view at Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum in 2023. With keen interests in public history, education, and cultural heritage, Scott's practice is centered around breaking down barriers as she aims to make history more inclusive and approachable to a wide range of people.

Chad Dawkins is a critic and curator. He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Histories and Curatorial Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. His work includes numerous exhibitions in person, online, and in print and writing for publications of art criticism, theory, and history. His current research is on the work of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. His work has appeared in Artforum, E-flux, Glasstire, Art Lies, and Art Papers among others. His publications include several exhibition catalogues and artist monographs and the book The Role of the Artist in Contemporary Art (Atropos Press, 2014). He was previously Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Southwest School of Art (now part of the University of Texas at San Antonio) and before that held similar posts at Texas State University, San Marcos and at Artpace in San Antonio, Texas. He holds a BA in Art History and Criticism from the University of Texas-San Antonio, and an MA in Philosophy of Media and Communication and a PhD in Philosophy of Art and Critical Thought from the European Graduate School.