NEW YORK, NY.- Children’s Museum of the Arts announced that it has appointed artist Mickalene Thomas to its Board of Directors. Thomas is a committed supporter of CMA’s mission to introduce children and their families to the transformative power of the arts.

“We are delighted to welcome Mickalene Thomas to CMA’s dedicated Board of Directors,” said Barbara Hunt McLanahan, the museum’s Executive Director. “Her remarkable talent and active engagement in the art world will make her a valuable addition to our Board.”

Thomas, a contemporary artist, earned her BFA in painting at Pratt Institute in 2000 and an MFA at the Yale University School of Art in 2012. Thomas has participated in residencies at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and at the Versailles Foundation Munn Artist Program in Giverny, France. Her work has been included in countless exhibitions worldwide, including at La Conservera Ceutí, Spain (2009); National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. (2010); Hara Museum, Tokyo (2011); Santa Monica Museum of Art, California (2012); and Brooklyn Museum, New York (2012-13). She is represented by Lehmann Maupin in New York, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, and Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris.

“This is a great opportunity for me to be involved with an institution that my daughter has been involved with since she was two years old,” Thomas said. “As a parent and artist, it's the best combination.”

Thomas joins 21 other Board members, including William Floyd, President; Anna Backer, Vice President; Elizabeth Fearon Pepperman, Vice President & President Emerita, Cynthia C. Wainwright, Vice President & President Emerita; Laurie Harris Brennan, Treasurer; and Allison Russo, Secretary.