Armory Center for the Arts Appoints Taylor Bythewood-Porter as Director of Exhibitions

The Armory Center for the Arts new Director of Exhibitions Taylor Bythewood-Porteras assumed her new position this month.

“I am a curator and writer whose work centers Black feminist thought, material culture, and the aesthetics of the African Diaspora,” Bythewood-Porter said.

A New Jersey native now based in Pasadena, Bythewood-Porter is a curator and writer whose work centers Black feminist thought, material culture, and the aesthetics of the African Diaspora. She will lead the Armory’s exhibitions program, overseeing curatorial strategy and implementation in alignment with the organization’s mission to advance equity and social justice through art. Her responsibilities include developing a creative and strategic vision that aligns with the Armory’s mission and Cultural Equity and Inclusion Plan.

“The Armory Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Taylor Bythewood-Porter as its new Director of Exhibitions, effective August,” the nonprofit organization reported.

“We are thrilled to welcome Taylor to the Armory,” said Karen Satzman, vice president of programs. “Her curatorial vision and commitment to inclusive storytelling will help shape a bold and dynamic future for our exhibitions program.”

Bythewood-Porter most recently served as curator of history at the Museum of Riverside, where she organized exhibitions including “First Comes Love: Courtship in the Victorian Era.” From 2017 to 2023, she was assistant curator at the California African American Museum, where she co-curated “Cross Colours: Black Fashion in the 20th Century,” “The Liberator: Chronicling Black Los Angeles, 1900–1914,” and “Tatyana Fazlalizadeh: Speaking to Falling Seeds.” Her solo exhibition “Rights and Rituals: The Making of African American Debutante Culture” received the American Association for State and Local History’s Award of Excellence in 2023.

She holds a Master of Arts in art business with a concentration in contemporary art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art at Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Arts in communications with a minor in art history from Monmouth University. She participated in Independent Curators International’s Curatorial Intensive in New Orleans in 2019 and is a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators’ Professional Alliance for Curators of Color (2021 cohort).

Her appointment supports the Armory’s ongoing implementation of its Cultural Equity and Inclusion policies, adopted in September 2019 under Executive Director Leslie A. Ito, and its revised mission introduced in May 2022: “To nurture our community and its young people by creating, learning, and presenting art to advance equity and social justice.”

More information is available at www.armoryarts.org and www.taylorbythewoodporter.com.