Crista Dix – Executive Director
Crista Dix (She/Her/Hers) is the Executive Director at the Griffin Museum of Photography, assuming that role in January of 2022 after two years as the Associate Director.
Before coming to the Griffin Museum in 2020 she spent fifteen years operating her own photography gallery, wall space creative, closing it in 2020 to make the move to New England and the Griffin. Having a career spanning many paths she has a background rooted in science, business and creative art. This well rounded experience provides a solid background for supporting the Griffin’s mission to encourage a broader understanding and appreciation of the visual, emotional and social impact of photographic art.
Her gallery, wall space, supported emerging and mid-career artists with exhibitions, talks, events and art fairs around the country. As an internationally known gallery, Crista worked with clients all over the world and represented national and international artists. In addition to wall space’s special event and exhibition schedule, it hosted a series of artist lectures, studio and community events.
Ms. Dix, wall space and the artists who were part of its success believed in giving back, creating a charitable giving program called Life Support. In ten years Life Support worked with over 400 artists, donating over $80,000 to charitable foundations Doctors Without Borders, Direct Relief and Habitat for Humanity.
Ms. Dix has written essays about photography, introducing creative artists work to a broader community. She has been a member of numerous panels and discussions on the craft of photography, juried creative competitions and has participated in major portfolio reviews across the country in cities like Houston, Portland, Los Angeles, Santa Fe and New Orleans.
Ally Cirelli – Associate Director
Ally Cirelli (She/Her/Hers) is the Associate Director of the Griffin Museum of Photography as of May, 2023. Prior to joining the Griffin, Ally worked for several years as an analyst in financial services before eventually transitioning into the museum field. She then served as the Education and Programming Fellow for the Tufts University Art Galleries and as a Curatorial Research Assistant for the Baltimore Museum of Art. Ally holds a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Kenyon College and a master’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies from Tufts University, specializing in contemporary American photography.
Donna Garcia – Director, Education & Programs
Donna Garcia (She/Her/Hers) is a lens-based artist, curator, educator, podcaster and arts advocate. Best known for her conceptual self-portraiture and uncanny noir style, her work explores the performative potential of the medium of photography as well as the idea of how we exist within liminal space. She is a contributing editor for LENSCRATCH, co-host/co-founder of the Modern Art and Culture Podcast, she has taught workshops and been a portfolio reviewer nationally, and has been an editorial/assignment photographer, creating work for international fashion brands to legacy environmental conservation publications.
She is the former co-owner of the Garcia Wilburn Gallery and the former Executive Director of the Atlanta Photography Group and Gallery. In addition, as Regional Marketing and Creative Director at Ogilvy in NYC, she developed, managed and executed major art installations / programing around Art Base Miami, Flux Nights Atlanta, Art Nights DC, James Bond’s Skyfall, Coachella, Ultra Miami, World Cup, South Beach Food and Wine Festival, The Latin Grammys, and the Oscars.
Ms. Garcia has a BA from Stonehill College, an MS in Communications from Kennesaw State University, an MFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a Certification in Diversity from Tufts University.
She currently splits her time between Boston, MA and Atlanta, GA.
Vicente Cayuela – Content Producer & Social Media Lead
Vicente Cayuela is a Chilean multimedia artist working primarily in research-based, staged photographic projects. Inspired by oral history, the aesthetics of picture riddle books, and political propaganda, his complex still lifes and tableaux arrangements seek to familiarize young audiences with his country’s history of political violence.
His 2022 debut series “JUVENILIA” earned him an Emerging Artist Award in Visual Arts from the Saint Botolph Club Foundation, a Lenscratch Student Prize, an Atlanta Celebrates Photography Equity Scholarship, and a photography jurying position at the 2023 Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in the Massachusetts region. His work has been exhibited most notably at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, and PhotoPlace Gallery, and published nationally and internationally in print and digital publications.
A cultural worker, he has interviewed renowned artists and curators and directed several multimedia projects across various museum platforms and art publications. He is a content editor at Lenscratch Photography Daily and Lead Content Creator at the Griffin Museum of Photography. He holds a BA in Studio Art from Brandeis University, receiving a Wien International Scholarship, a Deborah Josepha Cohen Memorial Award in Fine Arts, and a Susan Mae Green Award for Creativity in Photography.
Jack Budington – Archivist
Jack Budington is the Archivist at the Griffin Museum of Photography. He has completed a BA in History at Kenyon College and is currently enrolled as a student at Simmons University completing a dual masters in Library Science and History with a concentration in Archival Management. He has previously interned at MIT Distinctive Collections and has experience in marketing.
Meg Birnbaum – Marketing and Graphic Design
Meg Birnbaum is a fine art photographer, designer and educator. She has had solo exhibitions in Kobe, Japan, the Davis Orton Gallery, NY, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Corden Potts Gallery, San Francisco, the Griffin Museum of Photography, Lishui China, International Photography Festival, and at the Museum of Art Pompeo Boggio, Buenos Aires during the Biennial Encuentros Abiertos-Festival de la Luz. Her work has been juried into many national and international photography competitions. Birnbaum was an invited exhibitor at Flash Forward Festival 2011 in Boston and was nominated for the 2009 Santa Fe Prize for Photography.
Meg is also a graphic designer specializing in publication design. She produces design collateral for the museum and exhibition catalogs associated with the museum’s exhibitions. Birnbaum taught illustration at Montserrat College of Art and is an instructor at the Griffin, previously helming the Atelier program, now a mentor for portfolio development. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Meditech Corporation, the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, the Lishui Museum of Photography in China and many private collections.
