Our Team
Join our team! View our current open positions.
MATTHEW GREENE MARSHALL, Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director
Matthew Greene Marshall is the Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director. As Deputy Director, Matthew is responsible for the execution of the annual operational plan and strategic priorities. He partners with the Executive Director on the development and execution of the organization’s artistic and strategic vision. Matthew partners with The Amistad Center team to ensure the organization is delivering quality experiences to visitors and members alike through programming, events, and exhibitions.
Previously Matthew was the Director of Operations for the Florence Griswold Museum where he had been employed for more than 19-years. During his tenure, while honing his non-profit leadership skills, he served as ADA site-coordinator believing that everyone should have access to art and culture. Matthew earned both a bachelor’s degree in art history as well as a certification in Museum Studies from Connecticut College. He holds an associate degree in graphic design from Mitchell College. Matthew began his love of art and culture during his time as a Student Ambassador, representing the United States in many countries around the world. In his spare time, he immerses himself in his community having served on various boards and being an active member of his local historical society.
Matthew may be reached at 860-838-4091 or via email at MMarshall@amistadcenter.org
OLIVIA WHITE, Strategic Advisor
Olivia previously held the position of Executive Director with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture for 16 years. She remains actively engaged with the organization as a strategic advisor to the Board of Trustees. Since retiring from The Amistad Center in 2015, Olivia’s passion and support for our mission and other art, culture and civic organizations in the Greater Hartford area has been unwavering.
BETHANI BLAKE, Programs Manager for the African Diaspora
Bethani is responsible for creating and delivering programs for all audiences in coordination with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture and the Wadsworth Atheneum. Her previous roles include positions at the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing and Cultural Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio. She has a BFA in Painting and Performing Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Bethani brings experience as a practicing artist and educator in museum spaces.
Bethani may be reached at 860-838-4094 or via email at Bethani.Blake@thewadsworth.org
GRACE CLARK, Marketing and Administrative Associate
As Marketing and Administrative Associate, Grace creates marketing communication strategies to promote The Amistad Center for Art & Culture and supports the work of the Board of Trustees. She brings extensive experience working in communications and marketing in arts, education and social service organizations and arenas; and in the media as a broadcast and print journalist, including at FOX 61 news and The Hartford Courant. Grace holds a BA in Mass Communications and Journalism from Central Connecticut State University.
Grace may be reached at 860-838-4068 or via email at GClark@amistadcenter.org.
DANIEL CRITTENDEN, Development and Events Manager
Daniel is responsible for all fundraising and non-educational events and programs, such as our Annual Meeting, Juneteenth celebration, Artours etc. He has experience with the Hartford Renaissance District, Urban Hope Refuge Church, and the Diocese of Bridgeport. Daniel is working towards a Masters of Science in Strategic Fundraising & Philanthropy at Bay Path University. He brings a vast knowledge of and commitment to history, specifically Hartford history, and a genuine interest in community engagement.
Daniel may be reached at 860-838-4122 or via email at DCrittenden@amistadcenter.org.
Photo by Lotta Studio, New Haven, CT
FRANK MITCHELL, Ph.D, Curator-at-Large
Frank Mitchell is a cultural organizer in visual arts and public humanities. He is The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s Curator at Large and Curatorial Adviser for the Toni N. and Wendell C. Harp Historical Museum at New Haven’s Dixwell Q House. He is a consultant to SmokeSygnals, the region’s largest Indigenous-led exhibition design firm, on the forthcoming Mystic Seaport Museum exhibition Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea.
Frank’s curatorial projects include the exhibitions Timeless: Telling Our Neighborhood Stories—Chapter 1: Constance Baker Motley, Finding Freeman(s), The Nutmeg Pulpit: Hartford’s Talcott Street Church & Black Community Formation—and with The Amistad Center—Afrocosmologies: American Reflections, 40 Acres: The Promise of a Black Pastoral, Hairitage, and Soulfood: African American Cooking and Creativity. Publications include the catalog Afrocosmologies: American Reflections, the anthology African American Connecticut Explored, and the culinary study African American Food Culture. He has taught at the University of Connecticut, Trinity College, the University of the Arts, and Franklin & Marshall College.
Frank began work in museums as a programmer for The Anacostia Museum and The Studio Museum in Harlem. A graduate of The University of Michigan’s PhD program in American Culture, he has a Master of Arts degree in African-American Studies from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College. Mitchell serves as vice chair of the CTHumanities board, treasurer of the New England Foundation for the Arts board, and a member of the Elm Shakespeare Company and the Eli Whitney Museum boards.