Kevin Tervala

Kevin Tervala (he/him) is the Eddie C. And C. Sylvia Brown Chief Curator and was formerly the Associate Curator of African and Oceanic Art and Department Head of the Arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands (AAAPI). A Baltimore native, he arrived at the BMA in 2015 as AAAPI’s Curatorial Fellow and assumed his former AAAPI position in 2017. In the last seven years, he has curated seven temporary exhibitions, spearheaded the expansion and reinstallation of AAAPI’s collection galleries, consulted on several contemporary art projects, and chaired the BMA’s Cultural Property Working Group.

Kevin received a PhD and MA from Harvard University and a BA from the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition to his curatorial duties, he is an active researcher with interests in early modern central African textiles and colonial-era art from Kenya and Tanzania. Kevin strongly believes in educating the next generation of art scholars and enthusiasts and has taught African studies, art history, and museum studies at Georgetown University, George Mason University, Hunter College (City University of New York), John Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland, College Park.