IN LOUISVILLE, KY, the Speed Art Museum is welcoming Diallo Simon-Ponte as the inaugural Sam Gilliam Assistant Curator of Artist Programs. A writer and curator, Simon-Ponte will lead the Speed Museum’s new Sam Gilliam Visiting Artist Program. Bringing artist engagement and exhibition management experience to the role, he officially starts in May.
“I am honored to join the Speed Art Museum in this new capacity,” Simon-Ponte said in a statement. “Sam Gilliam’s contributions to the art world, particularly his support of artists from Louisville, have shaped so much of what the Speed represents today. I am excited to further this legacy by creating new platforms for artists to engage with the community and inspire meaningful creative conversations.”
Diallo Simon-Ponte. | Photo by Aaron Laserna, Courtesy Speed Art Museum
In October 2024, the Speed Museum announced the Sam Gilliam Visiting Artist Program and inaugural artists vanessa german (b. 1976) and Eric N. Mack (b. 1987). The new initiative is designed to increase connections with living artists by annually inviting two artists to Louisville to engage with local artists and communities, explore the museum’s collection, and develop public programming. german and Mack are visiting Louisville this year and their experiences will culminate with an array of programs, including exhibitions and conversations.
“This program honors Sam’s lifelong commitment to Louisville and Kentucky artists. It provides a meaningful opportunity for the Speed to deepen our relationships with artists by offering time, space, and support for creative exploration—and for meaningful connection with our community,” Speed Art Museum Director Raphaela Platow said in a statement. “Diallo brings a deep understanding of artist relations and curatorial practice that makes him the ideal candidate to shape this exciting new chapter at the Speed. His approach is grounded in building meaningful relationships—with artists and with the community—and we’re thrilled to see how he’ll help foster connection and creative exchange.”
“Diallo brings a deep understanding of artist relations and curatorial practice that makes him the ideal candidate to shape this exciting new chapter at the Speed. His approach is grounded in building meaningful relationships—with artists and with the community—and we’re thrilled to see how he’ll help foster connection and creative exchange.”
— Speed Art Museum Director Raphaela Platow
Simon-Ponte is a rising curator who worked at Gagosian gallery in New York (2021-24). He began as an assistant to Antwaun Sargent, a director at Gagosian, and was elevated to an assistant artist liaison. During his tenure at the international gallery, Simon-Ponte helped with several exhibitions, including solo shows of Derrick Adams, Cy Gavin, Lauren Halsey, Rick Lowe, Tyler Mitchell, and Amanda Williams. Most recently, Simone-Ponte joined Limbo Museum as curatorial director. The new museum in Accra, Ghana, was launched by the spatial design practice Limbo Accra. Simon-Ponte earned an undergraduate degree from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., where he was an intern at the Fairfield University Art Museum.
ESTABLISHED IN COLLABORATION with the Sam Gilliam Foundation, the Sam Gilliam Visiting Artist Program honors the legacy of the celebrated abstract artist. Sam Gilliam (1933-2022), who was born in Tupelo, Miss., and spent most of his career in Washington, D.C., grew up in Louisville and spent his foundational years as an artist in the city.
Gilliam earned BA and MFA degrees from the University of Louisville and as a graduate student co-founded Gallery Enterprises (1957-1961), an artist collective whose members included Bob Thompson (1937-1966) and Kenneth Victor Young (1933-2017), as well Fred F. Bond (c. 1931-1986), G. Caliman Coxe (1907-1999), Robert L. Douglas (b. 1934), and Eugenia V. Dunn (1918-1971), who remained active in the local art scene. Gilliam returned home often to visit his family and associated with the Louisville Art Workshop (1966-1978), another collective that expanded upon the work of Gallery Enterprises.
In a statement, Annie Gawlak, the late artist’s wife and president of the Sam Gilliam Foundation said: “Diallo’s extensive experience working with artists of diverse backgrounds and creating opportunities for meaningful engagement between artists and their communities makes him the ideal person to take on this role, extending Sam’s legacy of championing new generations of artists, nurturing artistic innovation, and fostering community engagement and cultural exchange.” CT
FIND MORE about Diallo Simon-Ponte on Instagram
FIND MORE Recent writings by Diallo Simon-Ponte include an essay on artist and performer Sheryl Sutton and sculptor Martin Puryear for The Kitchen; an interview with artist Devon B. Johnson for Gagosian Quarterly; and an essay about Guinean guitarist Mamady Kouyaté and British fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner published by Jupiter magazine
BOOKSHELF
A new volume produced by Phaidon in close collaboration with the Sam Gilliam Foundation, “Sam Gilliam” is described as the first publication to comprehensively examine the artist’s entire career. The title was included on Culture Type’s Best Black Art Books of 2024 list and includes a 10-part essay by Mary Schmidt Campbell, poem by Ishmael Reed, and chronology of Gilliam compiled by Andria Hickey. The two-part exhibition “Sam Gilliam: The Last Five Years,” presented at Pace Gallery in New York (2023) and David Kordansky in Los Angeles (2024), was accompanied by a catalog jointly published by the galleries. “Sam Gilliam” features an interview with the artist by Hans Ulrich Obri and new scholarship from Courtney J. Martin and Fred Moten. Also consider “Sam Gilliam: The Music of Color: 1967–1973” (2018) and “Sam Gilliam: A Retrospective” (2005), among other volumes that explore the artist’s work.
