JEN MERGEL

About Jen

Jen Mergel is a cultural leader, curator and educator passionate about connections—between art and people, ideas and impact, vision and service.  For over 20 years, she has promoted inclusive engagement with contemporary art in museums, on campuses and in the public realm. She has developed nationally newsworthy exhibitions, talks, and programs in her leadership roles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, the Association of Art Museum Curators, Voices in Contemporary Art, and most recently Olmsted Now. Boston-born and based, she is fiercely committed to championing culture makers, history keepers and change agents who deepen social and spatial justice, locally and globally. She is driven to initiate, innovate and collaborate on projects that foster community curiosity, connective capital and cultural equity through the intersection of the arts with a wide range of disciplines. From November 2021 - January 2023, she served as the inaugural Director of Experience & Cultural Partnerships for Boston's Emerald Necklace Conservancy, then as Senior Advisor, Cultural Partnerships & Parks Equity through May 2023. In June 2023, she assumed the role as James & Audrey Foster Executive Director of the Esplanade Association. Follow at @jenmergel