Aja Roache

Director, Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery

Assistant Professor, Museum Studies & Professional Development

Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Center West, Room 105
(850) 599-8755
aja.roache@famu.edu
LinkedIn

INTRODUCTION

I have served as the Florida A&M University Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery Director since 2012 and Gallery Coordinator since 2008 as well as teaching courses that are part of my Museum Studies concentration and curriculum.  I specialize in art museum education and visitor experiences of college students.  Recently I was selected as a 2016-2017 McKnight Junior Faculty Fellow and am currently conducting research on HBCU art museums and the ways they may shape Black students’ experiences. I have spoken internationally at Saint Monica University in Buea, Cameroon, and nationally on topics concerning Historically Black College and University (HBCU) art museums and galleries, higher art education, wellness programming and art museums, and critical race theory. I have conducted research at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida and the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia. 

I am active in my local visual art community, serving on the board of directors for 621 Gallery from 2009-2011 and worked on collaborative projects with Lemoyne Center for the Visual Arts in Tallahassee, Florida, and consulted on projects with the Meek Eaton Black Archives, FAMU Developmental Research School, and the Smithsonian "Crossroads: Change in Rural America" exhibition at the Havana History and Heritage Museum.  I have also guest lectured at Florida State University about my research and topics in art administration and museum studies and was instrumental in founding and developing the first Museum Studies concentration curriculum at FAMU.

EDUCATION

Florida State University, Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Exhibitions, Ph.D. candidate
New York University, Interdisciplinary Studies, Humanities, and Social Thought, M.A., 2008
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Fine Arts, B.A., 2001

COURSES TAUGHT

Introduction to Nonprofit Art Organizations, Exhibition Planning and Design, Public Art Studies, Museums and Society, Art Internship, Colloquium in Art

SELECTED AWARDS

McKnight Junior Faculty Fellowship, Florida Education Fund, 2016-2017
Faculty Travel Grant, FAMU, Summer 2016

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (Curated)

Through the Lens: Identity, Representation, and Self Presentation, FAMU Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, 2018
Doodle: Drawing on Original Diverse Learning Experiences, William Johnston Building Gallery, 2015
Distant Places: The Artistic Journey of Eugene Aaron, The Black Archives Research Center and Museum, Tallahassee, FL, 2014
Black TEXTile: The words and work of seven contemporary African American Artists, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL, 2012