Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Inducted to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Los Angeles, California, September 9, 2022—In recognition of her achievements in reimagining the role of art museums in society, Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and chief executive officer of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences—one of the most prestigious honorary societies in the United States—on Saturday, September 10.

Jackson-Dumont joins more than 250 leaders from the humanities and arts, mathematics and sciences, and leadership and policy sector who were elected in 2021, including media entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, visual artists Arthur Jafa and Julie Mehretu, playwrights David Henry Hwang and Suzan-Lori Parks, writer/cultural critic Hilton Als, reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, and museum leaders Daniel H. Weiss, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, and Kim Sajet. Inductees for 2022 include choreographer Kyle Abraham; critic Wesley Morris; novelist Salman Rushdie; visual artists Teresita Fernández, Sam Gilliam, Suzanne Jackson, Sally Mann, and Hank Willis Thomas; and arts leaders Oskar Eustis and Jill Medvedow. Lucas Museum co-founders George Lucas and Mellody Hobson were inducted into the American Academy in 2000 and 2016, respectively.

In announcing the new members in May 2021, David Oxtoby, president of the American Academy, said, “We are honoring the excellence of these individuals, celebrating what they have achieved so far and imagining what they will continue to accomplish. The past year has been replete with evidence of how things can get worse; this is an opportunity to illuminate the importance of art, ideas, knowledge, and leadership that can make a better world.”

“I am humbled to join the company of the remarkable members of the Academy whose work ripples out into the world,” said Sandra Jackson-Dumont. “I look forward to participating in the members’ exchange of ideas and in their shared search for ways to advance the common good.”

Curator, author, educator, administrator, and public advocate for reimagining the role of art museums in society, Jackson-Dumont has served since January 2020 as director and chief executive officer of the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, currently under construction in South Los Angeles. She oversees all aspects of the museum’s administrative, content creation, and operational affairs for the fast-developing institution, including the realization of a 300,000-square-foot building designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects with Stantec as executive architect integrated with an expansive new 11-acre park space designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA.

Connecting people with art has long been Jackson-Dumont’s personal and professional passion. Prior to taking leadership of the Lucas Museum, Jackson-Dumont held leadership roles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Known for her ability to blur lines—whether between academia and popular culture or traditional and non-traditional museum audiences—she has organized exhibitions and collaborative projects with artists including Kerry James Marshall, Theaster Gates, Titus Kaphar, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Sondra Perry. While at the Metropolitan Museum of Art she developed the Civic Practice Partnership, a collaborative residency for socially minded artists working in local communities.

A native of San Francisco, Jackson-Dumont earned her B.A. in art history from Sonoma State University and received her M.A. in art history from Howard University. While pursuing her career in museums, she has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, New York University, and the University of Washington. She currently serves on the boards of LA Tourism, the Aspen Institute’s NeuroArts Blueprint Advisory Board, Seattle’s Friends of the Waterfront Project, and Friends of the High Line in New York City.

About the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

The American Academy was founded in 1780, during the American Revolution, by John Adams, John Hancock, and sixty other scholar-patriots who understood that a new republic would require institutions able to gather knowledge and advance learning in service to the public good. The Academy is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges. More than 13,500 members have been elected since 1780, among them Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John James Audubon, Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Willa Cather, Ralph Ellison, Jonas Salk, Eudora Welty, Duke Ellington, Mark Rothko, and Toni Morrison.

About the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

As the first museum to focus exclusively on storytelling through images, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art believes that visual storytelling can connect us and help shape a more just society. With a growing collection that encompasses artworks from across cultures, places, times, and mediums, including paintings, sculptures, murals, photography, comic art, book and magazine illustrations, and the arts of filmmaking, the Lucas Museum will explore narrative art’s potential to prompt questions, invite opinions, inspire community, and move people to think about the impact of images on our world.

Co-founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson and led by director and CEO Sandra Jackson-Dumont, the Lucas Museum was designed by renowned architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects with Stantec as executive architect and is under construction in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park. An 11-acre campus with extensive new green space designed by Studio-MLA will embrace the museum’s 300,000-square-foot building, which will feature expansive galleries, two state-of-the-art theaters, and dedicated spaces for learning and engagement, dining, retail, and events.