Mississippi Today: Tell us about your experience moving to Jackson during a pandemic and what it’s like to explore here. Ryan Dennis: I chose to move to Jackson to follow the vision of Betsy Bradley, our director. She has many initiatives, such as CAPE, Center for Art and Public Exchange, and really works towards integrating those in our internal structures. I also work with a team that creates opportunities for artists and other communities to interact with the museum’s art display. It’s not just about displaying art. It’s also about having conversations and dialog around the best practices for museums to decolonize their spaces in ways they have never done before. I have no regrets, but I am looking forward. Being in Jackson and having a slower pace environment before the crisis is over, allows me to dig deeper and allows for research to take place in ways that weren’t possible in my previous job. Mississippi Today: What do you think your role is in helping to reduce the gap between access to traditional museums and art? Particularly since across the state, music and art programs are often the first to be cut in budget cuts. Ryan Dennis: My work as a curator has always been in sync with education programming and engagement thinking. These two elements are not incompatible. I do think that sometimes this happens in curatorial processes. It’s a value system I work from, and it’s important that I collaborate with other departments in the institution, e.g. Education. As little as possible. We must be in conversation from the beginning to end, strategizing how to ensure that multiple communities are allowed to enter the museum’s doors. Also, finding ways to disrupt and intervene outside the museum. It’s COVID now, and many schools don’t know where or when they’re going. So we will have Leonardo Drew on display, an outdoor public art that will be displayed on the lawn. Families can bring their picnic blankets and enjoy the sculpture of public artwork. This will allow them to meet people on the streets, on the lawn and in the grass. This is what attracted me to the museum. The museum does a great job and I want to help them improve their work. I also want to promote more Black artists and women artists in our future presentations. Mississippi Today: How can you integrate art and curating with the ongoing reckoning about racism in the country? This includes both the overt and the hidden racism that exists within institutions like museums. Ryan Dennis: This initiative is part of the Kellogg Foundation-funded initiative. It’s called Center for Arts for Public Exchange. CAPE’s true purpose is to use visual art, conversation, and dialogue among museum visitors to represent history and art stories to correct misunderstandings about race relations and power and to create platforms for new voices, personal truths, and resonate in Mississippi and elsewhere. CAPE’s values are transparency, equity, and truth. This work is ongoing, it’s something that we begin our staff meetings with, and it’s always in the forefront of everyone’s minds. My job is to continue pushing for that and to reflect the values of CAPE and how it works within our strategic plan — Increase the number of women artists in our permanent collections, as well as Black artists and artists from color within our permanent collections because you can see the gaps in the past. Then, it’s about pushing for this to be displayed in our exhibitions and also in our public programming. It just takes time. Sometimes things have to be out of balance to find the right balance. Mississippi Today: What is your favorite thing about Jackson’s art scene right now? Ryan Dennis: I am intrigued by the Fertile Ground project. It is about food insecurity in the city and how to access it. Local artists are creating artists in Midtown, which I find exciting. Jackson State and Tougaloo are intriguing to me. I am excited to explore the Archives and History Museums to find out more about the Great Migration Census Reports… and the Medgar Evers Institute. Cross-pollination between art, policy, and justice work is something I love. I believe there are many such intersections in the city. This Q&A was published in The Inform[H]er’s round-up section.