Chaunesti Webb-Johnson, Ph.D., joined the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art as the Curator of Collections in January 2025. Prior to joining the Spelman Museum, Webb-Johnson was the Black Feminist Theory Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University. As an interdisciplinary artist, scholar, and curator working at the intersection of performance, race, gender, and political economy, Webb-Johnson’s scholarship examines how Black women artists employ aesthetics to reimagine identity and belonging, claim personal pleasure, and stage processes of self-making. Her curatorial projects include Of Soil and Sky (2019), a solo exhibition of works by North Carolina artist, Claire Alexandre, curated in partnership with 21c Museum Hotel Durham and Provident1898, a co-working community nestled within the historic NC Mutual Building, a cornerstone of Durham’s Black Wall Street.
Webb-Johnson holds a BA in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MFA in Theater and Contemporary Performance from Naropa University, and a MA and PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.