Panelist

Keidra Navaroli is an independent curator, thought leader, and McKnight Doctoral Fellow in the Texts and Technology PhD Program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). For over sixteen years, her work in arts management, scholarship, and curation, has focused on addressing how museums broadly (and the medium of textiles specifically) can be utilized to question cultural divisions, foster intergenerational dialogue, and enhance the understanding of traditionally-underrepresented communities of practice. These experiences inform her current research interests, which are focused on the intersection of data science and art historical systems.

Keidra has lectured to audiences across the United States and abroad, including presentations organized by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, Museum Leadership Institute, Florida Association of Museums, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), George Washington University, Parsons School of Design, Surface Design Association, Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC), Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

Keidra received her M.A. in the History and Criticism of Art from Florida State University (B.A. in Art History from the University of Florida); completed internships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Sotheby’s Auction House in New York; and is an alumna of the Museum (Getty) Leadership Institute’s NextGen Program. Her award winning-curatorial work has been featured in Forbes, Culture Type, and numerous media outlets. Currently, she serves on the boards for the Mennello Museum of American Art, Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, and the Surface Design Association, as well as the IDEA Committee of the Textile Society of America. In 2024, she was inducted into UCF's Order of Pegasus, the university's highest academic honor.