Influential Woman · Museum and Gallery Sector

Shanti Nagwani

Exhibitions Manager, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History

Santa Cruz, CA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree University of California Degree Santa Cruz - Painting

Her Story

About Shanti

I currently work as the Exhibitions Manager at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, where my role is to design and install exhibitions, curate shows, manage artists, and manage our collaborative relationships. It's primarily my experience as a practicing artist that got me into this position. I've been in this field for 10 years now. I'm most proud of the most recent exhibition that I installed in collaboration with the Amamutsen Tribal Band, where I was the co-curator for a botanical illustration exhibition that highlighted some culturally significant native plant varieties that were illustrated by local artists. When I'm not working on gallery design and installation, I'm teaching art on a freelance, contract, or volunteer basis. I'm primarily a painter and a printmaker, and when I'm not working, I'm painting, cooking, or really just sourcing materials for the next project.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Shanti

01What do you attribute your success to?

I would attribute my success to really fabulous mentors and collaborators that I've had along the way, specifically women. It has always been women extending a hand to welcome me into the next stage of my career. Having these incredible women support and guide me has been instrumental in getting to where I am today.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I can share, which is advice I've given to myself, is that it's important not to discount any of your experiences. As individuals, it's important that we are taking stock of the work that we do regularly and keeping track of our achievements and collaborations, not only to improve our chances of furthering our careers in the fields that we are interested in, but also as a way to remind ourselves of how far we've come along the way. I give this advice to younger people often - I think it's important to make sure that you are noting and giving yourself credit for projects that you're involved in, whether paid or unpaid, so that you can really understand your own experience and use that to help advocate for a position in a field that you're interested in.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I would say the biggest opportunities are to use any institutional privilege to uplift community voices in the professional art field. I consider it really important to welcome people into the gallery spaces and museum spaces who might not have felt a sense of belonging in those spaces. I consider it the responsibility of people who work in the museum and gallery sector to make sure that they are including everybody in their community. It's about using the power and privilege we have to make these spaces accessible and welcoming to all.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

The values that are most important to me in both my work and my interpersonal life are protection of our most vulnerable communities and a real consistent search for understanding of the people around us. I'm always taking stock of the privilege that we have and the power that we have to make life easier for others. I think that's a really guiding principle that should be followed in the art world as much as possible, and just in daily life by everybody. That's something that I try to practice every day.

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