The Joan Mitchell Foundation announced today that arts administrator and curator Kemi Ilesanmi and artist and Hunter College professor Juan Sánchez have been appointed to its board of directors. The foundation advances the work of living artists through grants, residencies, partnerships, and access to professional services. To ensure that this work is guided as best as possible by the needs of artists, the foundation requires that one third of its board be working artists in addition to members from other fields.

Sánchez joins artists and current board members Tomie Arai, Ronald Bechet, Yolanda Shashaty, and Jean Shin, and Ilesanmi brings her experiences working with artists—as a curator, grants administrator, and the executive director of arts presenter the Laundromat Project—to the foundation.

“We are deeply committed to ensuring that our board represents the perspectives of the many different communities we serve, and are thrilled to have Kemi and Juan bring their passion and experience to the foundation,” said Michele Tortorelli, the foundation’s president and board chair. “For the last twenty-five years, we’ve worked to further Joan Mitchell’s legacy, identifying important opportunities and creative ways to engage with and support living artists of all ages. We are fortunate to have such a creative and committed board of directors to help steer our activities.”

The foundation recently announced the artists that will be participating in its 2018 residency program. The full list can be found here.