Naima Murphy Salcido, 33
MS arts administration ‘15
Director of partnerships, Monument Lab (New Orleans)
Naima Murphy Salcido cherishes the spot she occupies at the very center of a raging debate over the nation’s history and how it is told. As director of partnerships for the Monument Lab — a public art and history nonprofit — she is helping the fast-growing Philadelphia-based organization lead a national conversation about the past, present and future of historic monuments.
Last year, in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the organization published the National Monument Audit, a year-long study of 50,000 historical monuments that made national headlines amid controversies over the removal of Confederate statues. Observing that “a few figures and themes came to overshadow the many different collective experiences that make up our past,” the report argued that America’s commemorative symbols reflect racial, ethnic, religious and gender hegemony that leaves many other legacies hidden or distorted.
The audit became a springboard for new projects and myriad cross-country collaborations.
“We’re making sure that we’re amplifying great work,” says Salcido, describing her role on a jury that chose 10 projects from hundreds of applications from U.S. artists whose work will unfold in 2022. For instance, in Philadelphia, “ConsenSIS” will be led by poets Yolanda Wisher and Trapeta B. Mayson to elevate and preserve the literary legacy of the city’s Black women poets.
In the waning days of 2021, Salcido relocated to New Orleans, where she is now helping to forge partnerships with artists, historians and activists who are creating work to fulfill the public need for an authentic commemorative legacy. Guiding Salcido’s efforts are a respect for the unique knowledge and perspective that exist in the community, a commitment to strategy and a desire to support artists.
A native New Yorker who spent much of her childhood in Chicago, Salcido was drawn to Drexel’s reputation for arts administration. The faculty’s deep connections in the arts and culture world and the critical thinking they nurtured benefited her enormously.
“I use everything I learned in every class at Drexel,” Salcido says. “We’re building out the vision statements and values and making sure we’re doing what we set out to do.”
The entrepreneurial mindset Drexel professors encouraged has helped Salcido thrive in a startup organization that was able to attract a massive infusion of foundation support — including $4 million from the Mellon Foundation — while still awaiting nonprofit status and office furniture.
“We were punching above our weight,” Salcido confides.
At the same time, she is pleased to support visionary projects that promote equity and justice at a fraught juncture in the nation’s history.
“Thinking about monuments in the context of this political moment — and to enter in from an arts and culture background — that intersection has been exciting for me,” she says.