Alisha Kerlin is executive director and head curator of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has led the institution since 2016.

Under Kerlin’s leadership, the Barrick has expanded its exhibitions, collections, and public programming to prioritize active engagement and participation among visitors. Her Bus to Barrick field trip initiative has brought thousands of local schoolchildren to the museum at no cost to the schools. She has overseen more than 80 exhibitions and projects while developing a decentralized curatorial practice that shares curatorial authority and decision-making among artists, emerging curators, students, scholars, and communities. Her background as a professional artist makes her sensitive to the needs of artists and the conditions in which their work develops and is encountered.

She believes museums have a responsibility to broaden what they present. By supporting artists and perspectives that have historically been overlooked or insufficiently represented, she aims to position both UNLV and the whole of Las Vegas as a place where art creates opportunities for connection, dialogue, and understanding across differences. Kerlin is a graduate of the University of Tennessee (BFA) and the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts, Bard College (MFA)