Theo Tyson

theo tyson is an intuitive and inclusive curator who invites conversations about the sociocultural implications of race, class, gender, identity, and sexuality through a lens of fashion, art, and culture. Her practice focuses on creating sartorial spaces of reclamation and authority to share the powerful stories of non-white, Black women and those on the LGBTQI+ spectrum, investigating power dynamics that touch on constructs from colorism to misogyny; then taking it a step further to misogynoir. theo privileges noncanonical and communal ways of seeing, offering audiences poignant new perspectives from which to view the rich diversity of our humanity. Looking beyond systems of white heteronormative patriarchy and supremacy, tyson’s curatorial practice is centered on historiography that privileges and provides authority to the global majority – those previously labeled as underrepresented or marginalized. Using the ‘universal’ language and power of fashion, she unravels threads that put forward opportunities for deeper connections to the intent, import, and impact of clothing and dress as a means of empathy and empowerment.

Their previous posts include roles at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film, and the Boston Athenæum where they worked on historical and contemporary projects across genres including fashion, sculpture, and photography. She went on to co-curate an original exhibition Being Muholi: Portraits as Resistance at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and served as advising scholar for Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love at the Peabody Essex Museum before being appointed the Penny Vinik Curator of Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 2021. In addition to various installations and interventions including celebrating the 50th anniversary of Versailles ‘73 and the Black experience of jazz, art, and modernity, she’s since curated two original exhibitions, Four Womxn: New Musings on Blackness and Something Old, Something New: Wedding Fashions and Traditions, co-curated collaborative and interdisciplinary presentations through Dress Up and Deep Waters: Four Artists and the Sea and directed an annual commission, The Banner Project: Troy Montes Michie.

Beyond curation, tyson invests her time engaging with the community; from local schools and programs like Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Big Sisters, The Boston Foundation’s Equality Fund, to various other cultural, social, and civic organizations, circling back to the MFA Teen, HomeSchool, Accessibility, and Pathways Internship Programs at the MFA Boston, and much more.