A native of Sacramento, CA, Jane’a Johnson currently is Assistant Professor of Theory of Art + Design and a research fellow at the Center for Social Equity and Inclusion (SEI) at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and will be the new Artistic Director at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam per 1 October 2021 succeeding Marcel Feil.

“For me, photography is an opportunity to animate important local and global conversations — as Artistic Director, I will focus on strengthening Foam’s position as a leader, arbiter, and amplifier of those conversations and as a platform for photography.” (…) Working at Foam is a wonderful opportunity to take the next step in my career by using my talents to support the museum’s goal ‘to create a Foam for, and of, everyone’.”, says Jane’a Johnson, who was appointed by the board of Foam, after being recruited via an open procedure with the assistance of Colourful People Agency.

Johnson received her PhD from Brown University in Modern Culture & Media, where her work focused on photographers and subjects from the African Diaspora. Furthermore, Johnson earned an MA in Cinema and Media Studies from University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in Philosophy from Spelman College. As a former undergraduate exchange student at the University of Amsterdam the city is not new to Johnson.

Chairman of the board, Ingo Uytdehaage said: “We are thrilled to announce that Jane’a will join as Foam’s new Artistic Director. She impressed us with her fresh vision and approach on talent, leadership and the role of photography in society at large. In Jane’a we found an Artistic Director who will build and strengthen connections with Foam’s broad partner group. We look forward to introducing her to Amsterdam.”