The Block is delighted to welcome Simone Cambridge as the museum’s 2026–2027 graduate art history fellow. Simone is a doctoral student in Art History at Northwestern University whose research explores Black diasporic art, Caribbean history, and transatlantic slavery.

Her scholarly and curatorial work includes the article “‘It has just begun’: Strawcraft in Bahamian Visual Culture”, published in RACAR, and the 2024 exhibition ‘It comes from the head’: A Straw Heritage at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. At The Block, she is developing an exhibition for the Leffmann Gallery, opening in spring 2027.

We took a moment to ask Simone about her background, research, and her work at The Block this year.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and your field of study?

I am a curator and third-year PhD student in Northwestern’s Art History department from Nassau, Bahamas. I earned my BA in Art History and International Development Studies at McGill University and then an MA in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While pursuing my studies, I’ve worked with museums, research networks, and arts institutions for about a decade. My research focuses on Black diasporic material art practices, thinking through issues of collective and individual memory, the environment, and events in Caribbean history. My research interests are shaped by an experience in the local archives of my hometown, where I found a handwritten, handbound thesis written in 1968 by my grandmother about the history and significance of straw craft in The Bahamas.

What areas of research most animate your work, and how do they connect to broader conversations in art history, history, or museum studies?

In my research, I am enlivened by stories that link people to collective belonging, a historic sense of value, and shared time. Things that are archived and historicized tell us about what people before us thought was important, and I think it’s exciting to find patterns within the echoes of ideas. A similar process takes place in art history and museum studies, as art, created to speak to a specific past, is used to understand our present. The things we want to ask about now can sometimes be repeated questions.

What projects are you focusing on during your fellowship at The Block?

During my time at The Block, I will be curating an exhibition for the Leffmann Gallery space on the second floor that will open in spring quarter 2027. I hope to use the space to respond to themes of diaspora, history, memory, and connection.

What aspects of the curatorial process are you most eager to explore during your time here?

I am most eager to explore the great variety in The Block’s collection. I’m excited to see what new questions the works lead me to ask about my ideas about art history. I’m also excited to learn more about curating and academic museum institutions through the curatorial team and staff. I’ve brought classes to The Block as a teaching assistant and know how rich The Block’s exhibition spaces are for students. Now I’m grateful to learn from the other side of things.

How do you see this fellowship connecting to your dissertation, future research, or professional goals?

Academically, I see this fellowship as a great opportunity to enact my research interests and observe how they interact in the space of the gallery. As an art historian, artworks are my objects of study, so I spend hours with them on a screen or on paper. However, engaging with art in real life offers a different perspective and can provoke new ideas. Professionally, I also see this fellowship as a step towards the curator I want to be in the future. I hope to continue to curate exhibitions steeped in art historical research and use curatorial practice to inform my scholarly work.

What museum exhibitions, curatorial approaches, or scholarly projects (outside The Block) have inspired your thinking recently?

This summer, I spent time at the Bahamas Pavilion at this year’s 61st Venice Biennale. The pavilion’s exhibition, In Another Man’s Yard, curated by Krista Thompson, and the main exhibition, In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh, are major inspirations for me right now. Both inspire the tenderness of opacity and a dual relationship between discomfort and magnetism. I have been interested in this tension lately.

Is there anything at The Block Museum or Northwestern that you are particularly excited about this season?

I’m a big fan of Block Cinema, the free screenings hosted by The Block Museum. Abby (1974), directed by William Girdler, was one of the films I especially enjoyed this fall. Lots of their screenings are on my calendar!