The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), two Bay Area institutions that are around the corner from each other, have appointed Cornelia Stokes as assistant curator of the art of the African diaspora. She will begin in the role on January 5.

The newly created position, first announced in 2023, will be shared by both museums, with Stokes working across the two institutions. The position has been endowed for its first three years by the KHR McNeely Family Foundation. At SFMOMA, Stokes will report to Jenny Gheith, curator and interim head of its Painting and Sculpture department; at MoAD, she will report Key Jo Lee, chief of curatorial affairs and public programs.

As part of her remit, Stokes will focus on mounting exhibitions and producing new scholarship on contemporary art from the Africa diaspora, including working to create collaborative exhibitions and programs between the two institutions. She will also support SFMOMA’s efforts to diversify its permanent collection. (MoAD is a non-collecting institution.)

Stokes is an independent curator who currently runs a consulting firm named Emblazon Arts LLC. She is also a curatorial consultant to the estate of artist Donald Locke an...