Drive and skill have never been lacking for Sherri Williams, the current Romare Bearden Fellow at the St. Louis Art Museum.
She graduated as valedictorian from East St. Louis Senior High School and earned a masters degree in African Studies from the University of Illinois this past May.
Yet, after completing her masters, she didn’t quite know where she wanted to focus her talent. Her openness worked to her benefit in vying for the Romare Bearden Fellowship, which she began in July.
“Some Bearden fellows are so set on what they wanted to do,” said Renee Franklin, the museum’s community partnership director and coordinator for the fellowship program.
“Because Williams was more open, it has been easier to find fulfilling projects for her. She wanted to taste lots of different things.”
Williams is the first student from the St. Louis area to receive the yearlong fellowship, which is a paid position.
The fellowship was initiated in 1991 because local museum supporters Dan and Adelaide Schlafly noticed that there were no people of color working in the museum in curatorial positions, Franklin said. The Schlaflys felt the professional staff was not reflective of the community, so they funded the Romare Bearden Fellowship for the first few years. The museum has kept it running since. The application process begins in March.
“It is really important, because who knows where some of us would be,” Williams said. “Breaking into the museum field is difficult.”
Williams applied for the fellowship to gain the skills she needed to foster a career in African Studies. Being with the museum since July 1, she can already see that it’s working. So far, she has helped install the newest exhibits, Ian Weaver, Document, and Vinka Shonibare MBE: Mother and Father Worked hard so I Can Play. She has facilitated community projects, such as Kwanzaa, where some 500 people participated.
She’s also honed in on her public speaking skills by teaching the Art in the Basic Curriculum program, a 30-year-old museum education program that teaches fourth and fifth graders to see art in their everyday lives and academic studies.
Not to mention, it relieved the stress of being thrown straight into the job market from graduate school. This is her first full-time position, working 40 hours a week.
“Having no experience and trying to jump into the work force is really hard,” Williams said. “I’m back home, and I love it here.”
This year, Franklin said she was lucky to have three strong applicants who grew up in St. Louis. Franklin and the panelists decided on Williams because her skill set best fit the direction that the museum was taking in the upcoming year.
Because the museum is going through an expansion, many of the galleries are closed. There were going to be fewer options in curating, which tends to be what most applicants are interested in, Franklin said. She also knew the museum would be reinstalling the African Galleries and working with other African-based projects.
“Once we met Sherri, we thought those would be good options for her,” Franklin said.
Working with the community is one of Williams’ favorite parts of the job, but she also enjoys being behind the scenes. She gets to see exhibits before everyone else and work closely with curators.
“And I still can’t touch anything, but I can get closer than anybody else,” Williams said.
Growing up in East St. Louis, Williams would come to the art museum on occasion, but that became more frequent while she was attending Washington University for her undergraduate studies. But like many people, she never got to see what roles people played in getting the exhibits together. When the East St. Louis High School students came to the museum for a visit, she was able to speak with confidence about the exhibits. The students experienced the museum in a more personal way, having someone from the community guiding them around, Franklin said.
“They saw her as a role model,” Franklin said of the ESL alumna.
“It was good to see my high school represented in the museum,” Williams said. “They were really fun and willing to participate.”
