Adjunct Instructor Adjunct Instructor
Sarah Kleinman is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she teaches Contemporary Art. Her research explores themes of exile, migration, identity, materiality, and postcolonial/decolonial theory in modern and contemporary art, with a focus on the contributions of Caribbean, diasporic, and expatriate artists and curators.
Her current book, under contract with the University of Arkansas Press, examines the life and work of Trinidad-born curator Kynaston McShine (1935–2018). Drawing on Black diaspora studies, queer theory, and the politics of form, this critical study reframes twentieth-century art and argues for the Caribbean’s vital role in shaping American art, broadening understandings of national identity, and creating space for mobile populations—immigrants, expatriates, and exiles—in the production, circulation, and interpretation of art.
Kleinman’s work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Terra Foundation of American Art. She earned her BA in Political Science and Art & Art History from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her MA and PhD in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University.