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April is Celebrate Diversity Month, and the ������ý Art Museum (BUAM) will host a pop-up exhibition curated from the museum’s extensive permanent collection of more than 4,000 pieces. However, this exhibition has a twist: each piece was specially selected by a member of the ������ý community.

The idea was the brainchild of Richard Quiles ’24, coordinator of diversity education at UDiversity Educational Institute. As an anthropology undergraduate, Quiles completed an internship as a preparator in the museum; when his internship ended, he continued to volunteer there. His connection with the museum led to his current role in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) when BUAM Director Diane Butler introduced him to Ada Robinson-Perez, executive director of diversity education and bias response, who supervises UDiversity.

“Diane had worked with Dr. Robinson-Perez in the past, and she had encouraged me to meet with her to discuss opportunities in DEI,” he said.

Quiles had been collaborating with Jessica Petrylak, the museum’s art preparator and communications assistant, on a social media initiative to highlight cultural and identity months throughout the year by showcasing objects from the museum’s archive. The pop-up exhibition resulted from ongoing planning meetings. He then approached Robinson-Perez and DEI Vice President of Diversity Karen Jones with the idea for the exhibition: works of art nominated by peers that would highlight artists from historically underrepresented communities. Initially, he proposed including his divisional colleagues, but Jones encouraged him to expand his outreach to engage campus partners from across the University community.

Working with Butler and Petrylak, Quiles reached out to campus members from across the various schools and divisions to highlight diverse perspectives. The response, he said, was overwhelmingly favorable.

Quiles asked each person to review the museum’s digital archives and select a piece that resonated with their experiences, values or cultural heritage. The only parameters were that it needed to be a two-dimensional work on paper. Then, they were asked to write a brief essay about their chosen artwork and why it connected with their identity or life perspective.

“I didn’t want it to feel like homework,” he explained, “so there were no strict guidelines for the reflection. However, I was genuinely surprised by the depth of the responses and how openly everyone shared their thoughts about the piece they selected.”

Exhibition contributors include Melvin Whitehead, assistant professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs; Rasheema Wright, health promotion coordinator, B-Healthy; Kimberly Jaussi, associate professor, School of Management; Rachel Kimani, clinical associate professor, Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences; Nicole Sirju-Johnson, senior assistant dean, Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences; and Katie Brazzell, resident director, Residential Life. Quiles is also a contributor.

The exhibition features four paintings, one print, one etching and a color woodcut, along with two additional works by prominent Black artists chosen by Butler and Quiles. A handbook is a companion piece to the exhibition, showcasing images of the artwork, the names of the contributors and the reflection essays. Visitors will also have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the exhibition’s artworks.

Quiles hopes this year’s exhibition will mark the start of an annual event.

“By the time I developed the idea and gathered support, I had only about two months to pull everything together,” he said. “I reached out to many faculty and staff members, and everyone was very positive and expressed interest in participating—if not this year, then in the future. So, my hope is that we can continue to grow and make this a yearly exhibit.”