Biography

Elana Casey

Artist Writer and Curator

Casey earned her BFA from The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at The George Washington University .

Casey’s work has been exhibited at The George Washington University, The Katzen Arts Center, The Mehari Sequar Gallery, and the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center. She is a 2011 Anderson Ranch Arts Center Resident, a 2023 The Color Network Fellow, and a 2023 Maryland Folklife Apprenticeship Grant recipient.

Previously, Casey was Chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., leading a team of educators and cultivating institutional partnerships with the Studio Museum in Harlem and ArtReachDC. During her tenure, she founded Studio74, an internal platform for artist talks, panels, and mentorship connecting students with prominent renown artists.

She currently serves as Associate Director of the Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she curates exhibitions and programs that advance cultural equity and support underrepresented artists. In this role, she develops residencies, partnerships, and curatorial projects aligned with the Fine Arts Center’s mission to expand access and representation in the arts.

As the founder and curator of Casey Contemporary, a curatorial initiative, she has advised, participated, and organized exhibitions and artist programs. Her curatorial practice bridges institutional frameworks and grassroots art communities, building new models for artist visibility, collector engagement, and Black creative legacy.