Yerba Buena Center For The Arts Names Essence Harden As Senior Curator

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Names Essence Harden Senior Curator as It Plans a New Chapter

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco has chosen Essence Harden as its next senior curator, a move that places a Bay Area native at the center of the institution's evolving program. Harden will begin on May 18 and will help shape exhibitions and public programming, including the 2028 Bay Area Now triennial.

The appointment arrives at a moment when YBCA is thinking carefully about its identity. Mari Robles, the center's chief executive, said Harden stood out for experience that spans museums and art fairs, a combination she sees as essential to the organization's next phase. Robles said YBCA is aiming for a program that speaks to local audiences while also reaching regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Harden currently serves as curator of the Expo Chicago art fair and, since 2024, has organized the Focus section of Frieze Los Angeles. YBCA said they will continue in both roles with its support. Their recent curatorial work also includes co-curating the 2025 edition of the Made in L.A. biennial at the Hammer Museum, one of the most closely watched recurring exhibitions in Southern California.

Before that, Harden served as visual arts curator at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. Their exhibition history also includes projects at the Orange County Museum of Art, Art + Practice in Los Angeles, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, and the Oakland Museum of California. That range gives the new role a particular resonance: Harden arrives with deep ties to California's art ecology and with experience moving between institutional and fair contexts.

In an emailed interview, Harden said they were drawn to YBCA because of its“history of experimentation and its understanding of contemporary art as part of a larger civic and cultural conversation.” They described the senior curator position as a chance to bring together scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration, public engagement, and long-term relationships with artists.

Harden also framed the appointment through a broader geographic lens. Speaking about the“identity of the West,” they said they see the region as a space shaped by movement, speculation, cultural exchange, and uneven histories of visibility. For Harden, place in California is never only physical; it also carries memory, diasporas, politics, and possibility.

Robles, who joined YBCA about 16 months ago, said the 33-year-old organization has the flexibility to think expansively about its future. With Harden in place, YBCA appears to be building toward a program that is rooted in the Bay Area while remaining open to wider conversations about the West and the contemporary art world beyond it.

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