The conversation is the third installment of Philadelphia Contemporary’s Museums of the 21st Century, a series of public discussions between the founders, writers, curators and artists reinventing what a museum can offer its public. Since fall 2018, Philadelphia Contemporary has invited visionaries ranging from artists to architects, curators to historians, and poets to public officials to consider the possibilities of the museums to come. Each talk plays host to both a Philadelphia-based thinker and a national or international voice, offering audiences the opportunity to hear more about their own community and to learn from those outside the region.

Sponsored by the Knight Foundation, the series reflects Philadelphia Contemporary’s steadfast commitment to fostering innovative and interdisciplinary work across the city through a dynamic model of sustainable collaborations and partnerships, expanding public conceptions of what contemporary art is and can be.

Richard Pell is the founder and director of the Center for PostNatural History, an organization dedicated to the collection and exposition of life-forms that have been intentionally and heritably altered through domestication, selective breeding, tissue culture or genetic engineering. The Center for PostNatural History operates a permanent museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and produces traveling exhibitions that have appeared in science and art museums throughout Europe and the United States including the Victoria and Albert Museum and Wellcome Collection in London, the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the CCCB in Barcelona, the ZKM in Karlsruhe, the 2008 Taipei Biennial, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, as well as being featured in National Geographic, Nature, American Scientist, Popular Science and New Scientist. Pell is a National Academy of Science KAVLI Fellow and was awarded the 2016 Pittsburgh Artist of the Year. He is currently an associate professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University.

Niki Ciccotelli Stewart is the chief learning and engagement officer at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia. She oversees the exhibits, learning, visitor services, and volunteer services departments and is charged with creating an outstanding, meaningful and relevant visitor experience for every single person that comes to the museum. Prior to joining the Academy, Niki spent 11 years at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. She joined the museum team in 2008, three years before the public opening and as a member of the opening team, helped take the museum concept from idea to reality, building the physical site, operations and programming. As chief engagement officer, she oversaw education, exhibitions, and interpretation. Niki also helped launch several significant projects including the Frank Lloyd Wright Bachman-Wilson House’s opening, the launch of The Momentary, and the creation of Art Bridges, a new arts foundation focused on sharing American art across the country.