Adriel Luis is the curator of digital and emerging media at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, where he advocates for underserved communities to be treated and represented equitably by museums and institutions. He and his team curate Culture Labs, an alternative to museum exhibitions that is built on community-centered beliefs. Luis is also a multidisciplinary artist and community organizer. He is a part of the iLL-Literacy arts collective, which creates music and media to strengthen Black and Asian American coalitions, and he is creative director of Bombshelltoe, which works with artists to highlight marginalized communities affected by nuclear issues. He has a degree from the University of California, Davis in community and regional development, with a focus on ethnic studies. In 2018, Luis visited the Center to participate in a conversation about the effects of the internet on curating and community engagement with Dr. Suse Anderson, who served as the Center’s 2018–19 Visiting Technologist. Luis served as an Exhibitions & Public Interpretation panelist at the Center in 2019.
