April Watson

About Episode 101

In this episode of PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf, April Watson, Senior Curator of Photography at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, joins Sasha to discuss her upcoming exhibition, American Prospects and Landscape Photography, 1839 to Today. The two dive into an insider’s conversation about how acquisitions, whether through donations or direct purchases, shape curatorial decisions. April speaks about the importance of honoring donor gifts through thoughtful exhibitions, and about working closely with museum education staff to shape exhibition language to engage audiences who may not have an art-historical background. She then turns the tables, inviting Sasha to share her perspective on the current state of the photographic art market and how it has evolved or devolved over time.

About April Watson

April M. Watson is Senior Curator of Photography at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. During her eighteen-year tenure at the museum, Watson has curated over 20 exhibitions that span the history of photography. These include: American Prospects and Landscape Photography, 1839 to the Present (forthcoming 2026); Strange and Familiar Places (2025);  Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City (2023, with the High Museum of Art); Jim Dow: Signs (2022);  Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali: The Image of a Champion, 1966/1970 (2020, with the Gordon Parks Foundation); Eugene Richards: The Run-On of Time (2018, with the George Eastman Museum); Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet (2013); and Heartland: The Photographs of Terry Evans (2012).

Prior to the Nelson-Atkins, Watson held curatorial research positions at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., and the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson. She holds an MA in Art History from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas. She is currently at work on a major exhibition for 2027 that  explores the relationship between early photography the antislavery movement. The exhibition will also feature major contemporary works inspired by this history.

Artist Links:

Website
Instagram

People & Resources:

Eugenia Parry Janis, Henri Le Secq, Beaumont Newhall, William Christenberry, Trudy Wilner Stack, Sarah Greenough, Keith Davis, Robert Frank, André Kertész, Harry Callahan, Dorothea Lange, Curran Hatleberg, Loring Knobloch, Joel Sternfeld, Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz, Karen Haas, Carleton Watkins, Walker Evans, Willam Eggleston, David Maisel, Mitch Epstein, Barbara Bosworth, Victoria Sambunaris, David Taylor, Greg Harris, Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman