The Brooklyn Museum today announced the creation of two new roles and revealed their inaugurators, Artnews reports. Adjoa Jones de Almeida will serve as deputy director for learning and social impact, while Carolyn Royston joins the museum as deputy director for engagement. Jones de Almeida will move over from the museum’s education division, of which she has been director since 201, while Royston arrives from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York, where she is chief experience officer.
Both bring deep experience to their roles. Before arriving at the Brooklyn Museum in 2013, Jones de Almeida founded the Bahia, Brazil–based organizations Sista II Sista in 1996 and Diáspora Solidária about a decade later. In her new post, she will continue to lead the education division and to oversee the museum’s public programs and community engagement teams. She is tasked with creating a sustainable long-term strategy for engaging audiences, one that addresses global themes such as mass criminalization and climate change while remaining connected to the surrounding community.
“I am excited to help reimagine the role of museums in people’s lives through innovative collaborations centering the needs and perspectives of POC and working-class communities, while continuing our commitment to widespread access, inclusion, and dialogue across difference,” said Jones de Almeida.
Prior to joining Cooper Hewitt, Royston held high-level positions at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; the Imperial War Museums, which has five locations across England; and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. At the Brooklyn Museum, she will seek to increase and sustain the museum’s audience engagement via digital initiatives.
