K. Samantha Sigmon


Assistant Curator, Bates Museum of Art

Associations
Olin Arts Center; Bates Arts Collaborative


ssigmon@bates.edu

About

K. Samantha Sigmon (she/her) works with intersecting aspects of contemporary art and theory, arts interpretation, cultural and folk histories, and placekeeping and grassroots activism within the built environment. She joined Bates in March 2023 and currently serves on the board at SPACE, a multi-disciplinary art center in Portland, and on the Museum Committee of the College Art Association. At Bates, she loves working deeply with interns on exhibition projects, with faculty on courses related to best museum practices and the changing museum field, and on unique collaborations across campus and into the community. She is especially interested in working closely with artists to create multi-media, interactive, and site-specific art projects.

Samantha has a Master’s in Architectural History from the University of Virginia, a Master’s in Museum Studies from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology and Literature from the University of Arkansas. Previously, in her hometown of Northwest Arkansas, she was invested in community arts, running a do-it-yourself space and organizing local arts exhibitions while specializing in contemporary art and architecture as an Interpretation Manager at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. At UVA, Samantha was an organizer for ManifestA Collective for Equity in Design, co-president of the University of Virginia Society of Architectural Historians, and Curatorial Research Assistant in University of Virginia Special Collections. She still curates with an emphasis on art that underscores the importance of place and site in our everyday lives.

Select Curatorial Projects:
  • Lead Curator at Bates: “Carl Sprinchorn: Points of View” (ital.), October 1 – December 19, 2026 (link https://www.bates.edu/museum/carl-sprinchorn-points-of-view/); Co-editor: “Carl Sprinchorn: A Rediscovery” (ital.) catalogue, University of Maine Press
  • Lead Curator at Bates: Shellburne Thurber: Full Circle, October 24, 2025 – March 21, 2026, Link
  • Co-curator at Bates: Precision and Expression: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection, October 24, 2025 – March 21, 2026, Link
  • Lead Curator at Bates: Across Common Grounds: Contemporary Art Outside the Center, October 24, 2024 – March 15, 2025, Link
  • Freelance Lead curator: “Ozark Home, Beyond the Frame,” Shiloh Museum of Ozark History and The Medium gallery, Springdale, AR, May-December 2023
  • Interpretation Manager at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: “Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now,” Fall 2018
  • Interpretation Manager at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power,” Spring 2018
  • Interpretation Manager at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: “Border Cantos: Sight and Sound Explorations from the Mexican/American Border,” Spring 2017