Kemi Ilesanmi is a cultural strategist, coach, and connector with over 25yrs of experience in the arts sector as executive leader, foundation officer, and museum curator.
Kemi was the founding executive director of The Laundromat Project, a nationally-recognized and community-based arts organization in New York City from 2012 - 2022. Under her leadership, The LP grew its staff, budget & impact tenfold, including a significant award from Mackenzie Scott and move to a long-term community home in Central Brooklyn.
Prior to that, she was Director of Grants and Services at Creative Capital Foundation where she supported the work of American artists making adventurous new work. From 1998-2004, she was visual arts curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. While there, she organized several exhibitions, including The Squared Circle: Boxing in Contemporary Art, and ran the visual arts residency program. She was a founding partner of HueArts NYC, a catalytic map, directory, and report on the strengths and challenges of POC arts organization in New York City.
Kemi contributes to scholarship through speaking engagements and interviews at museums, universities, publications, and podcasts, including Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Creative Time, The New School, University of Maine, Continuum Ibadan, Artsy, Artnet News, and The Art World: What If…?!, among others.
Starting in 2015, Kemi was appointed by the Mayor of New York City to the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission for seven years, including two as Chair. She has been featured in the New York Times, among Brooklyn Magazine's 50 most fascinating people, and on The Observer annual list of the Arts Power 50. She has been honored by the Metropolitan Museum and Project for Empty Space. Currently, she serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Museum of Art and Joan Mitchell Foundation, as well as advisory boards for Rockefeller Pocantico Center, The Laundromat Project, Brooklyn Public Library, and Indigo Arts Alliance. She is a graduate of Smith College, New York University, and Coro Leadership NY.
Kemi is proudly of Nigerian and Black American descent. She lives in Brooklyn with her spouse, with whom she travels the world and enjoys art and culture of all kinds. She has traveled to over 50 countries, and in 2023, she took a “gap year” to visit India, Mexico, Italy, and 10 incredible African countries from west to east to south - immersing herself in the unique art, architecture, culture, nature, and history of each place.