christian reeder is an Atlanta-born, chicago-based scholar, curator, and artist currently earning their M.A of Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). chris’ practice is rooted in the intersection of Black feminist anthropology and Black Diasporic Studies. their scholarship on Black culture, cultural preservation, and curating memory shapes their interests in questioning the effect visual art has on knowledge production and social consciousness. as a cultural anthropologist, chris centers truth-telling in curating the complexity of culture as social knowledge. their position at the Montclair Art Museum will allow them to curate stories of the past, present, and future in expansive and generative ways that will illuminate truth on contemporary Indigenous presence, social praxis, and curatorial-community work. chris’ current practice focuses on archival management, booking making, mixed medium curatorial projects for architecture galleries, public art projects and shows for MFA students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. as foundational principles in their politic, chris believes in reparations for trans Atlantic Slave Trade and that tampons should be free.

Project: christian will support the curatorial department in the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection of historical and contemporary Native American art, which will open in September 2023.