Carlee Forbes

Carlee S. Forbes (she/her) joined the BMA as Associate Curator of African and Oceanic Art in September 2024. She is a specialist in the arts of Africa, collection histories, and provenance research. From 2019–2024, she was a curatorial fellow at the Fowler Museum at UCLA where she was part of a multi-disciplinary project involving curators, conservators, and community representatives that investigated the provenance of over 7,000 African artworks in the Fowler’s collection. Her exhibition, Particular Histories: Provenance Research in African Art and accompanying digital resources engaged audiences with this research. Carlee also held positions at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Ackland Art Museum, and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art. Carlee received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, an MA in art history from the University of Florida, and BA degrees in history and humanities from Michigan State University. In addition to her curatorial responsibilities, she is committed to training students and has taught classes in art history, museum studies, information studies, and history.