Timothy Anne Burnside
Timothy Anne Burnside is an accomplished museum professional with over 20 years of experience at the Smithsonian Institution. Her work explores intersections between history and culture through the lenses of music and performing arts via the acquisition, research, and interpretation of material culture. She builds collections inclusive of diverse and unique objects and develops exhibitions, programs, publications, and digital media that provide engaging and educational experiences. Her unique professional perspective fuels her exploration of museums’ changing roles and responsibilities and evolving methodologies in the field.
Timothy began her career with the Smithsonian Institution at the National Museum of American History in 2003 as an intern with the Archives Center, then became a Curatorial Assistant for the Division of Cultural History. She was also Project Assistant and a Producer of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) for two years. During that time, she led JAM’s national and international outreach and produced over 20 public programs and performances each April. In 2006, she launched the Smithsonian’s first hip-hop initiative and began building a collection. Timothy moved to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in 2009 to join the curatorial team developing the museum’s collections and exhibitions.
Timothy contributed to multiple NMAAHC inaugural exhibitions, including Musical Crossroads, Sports: Leveling the Playing Field, Taking the Stage, Cultural Expressions, and Power of Place. Additional exhibitions for NMAAHC include Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment, Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture, and Represent: Hip-Hop Photography. She has produced and contributed to diverse award-winning projects, including the NMAAHC’s grand opening festival “Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration,” the groundbreaking publication The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, and the podcast “All Music is Black Music.” Recent projects include the NMAAHC Hip-Hop Block Party, the publication Musical Crossroads: Stories Behind the Objects of African American Music, and the NMAAHC exhibition Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures.
