Founding Director
Tiffany Meesha Thompson, EMBA
Tiffany Meesha Thompson, EMBA, is a cultural strategist and curator whose work bridges art, infrastructure, and public life. With a focus on commissioning monumental works of contemporary art, Tiffany creates opportunities for artists to shape landscapes, institutions, and communities, placing creative vision at the heart of how people experience place, memory, and belonging.
Tiffany serves as curatorial consultant for Barney Allis Plaza, a public park currently under construction in the heart of downtown Kansas City. Kansas City Spirit: Memory and Resilience is a site-wide installation that will transform the plaza into an iconic landmark celebrating the workers and community members who define the Kansas City spirit. In 1899, the newly built Convention Hall opened as a bold statement of civic ambition, only to be destroyed by fire less than a year later. The community responded by rebuilding the hall in just 90 days, in time to host the Democratic National Convention, a demonstration of collective perseverance and civic pride woven into the identity of Kansas City forever. The new artwork reimagines the historic Convention Hall façade as a spatial drawing rendered in a fragmented framework of steel profiles placed around the perimeter of the plaza. As part of the community engagement program for the project, Tiffany created Office Hours, a free one-on-one mentoring program offering local artists guidance on navigating the public art world and advancing their careers.
Artist Anne Austin Pearce and her assistant install Icarus at the Crossroads Hotel in Kansas City.
Her career spans more than two decades and includes curating and delivering landmark projects across the globe. She launched Peace Plaza for the Mayo Clinic and the City of Rochester and curated major art collections for the institution's healthcare environments. Tiffany has spearheaded eco-art programming for conservation initiatives in Chile and advised Mauritius' Ministry of Arts and Culture on establishing its first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Her curatorial work also includes cultural programming for the French Embassy, the United Nations, and artist residencies in hospitality settings across Mexico, Germany, and the U.S. As part of Saudi Arabia's intentional national transition away from oil dependency toward cultural tourism and public life, she led art initiatives for Sports Boulevard, a 135-kilometer health and wellness corridor developed for the Royal Commission of Riyadh, encompassing public art commissions at a scale that reflects the country's extraordinary investment in culture as a driver of national transformation.
Tiffany is a strong advocate for reimagining how public institutions serve people. She collaborates with museums, architects, and public agencies to embed artists into infrastructure projects, including five years working with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston to extend its role into the public realm.
Named one of CODAworx's "2025 Creative Revolutionaries," Tiffany brings a rare combination of artistic insight and executive leadership to her projects. Her work demonstrates how investment in creativity generates human connection, economic opportunity, and long-term community resilience.