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There is a fresh face at the helm at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, and he promises to bring a new perspective.

Last month, Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta (Dr. Matt) joined Temple Contemporary as Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming.

“What really excited me about this role was the opportunity to show people a true hidden gem along North Broad,” Dr. Matt said.

Temple Contemporary is the Tyler School’s center for public exhibitions and programming. It has a public gallery showcasing different art and events throughout the year. And Dr. Matt hopes his background can help transform the space.

Dr. Matt grew up in the Bay Area in a “big creative Black family” of artists. He said the tech boom led his family to relocate.

“I always wondered, why did we have to move?” he said, when describing his childhood. This question lingered as Dr. Matt delved into his academic career, driving his curiosity and ultimately motivating him to go into the world of urban planning.

He earned a master’s in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and became the first African American to earn a doctorate in urban planning and development from the University of Southern California (USC), focusing his scholarship on Black art and culture through the lenses of urban design and architecture.

“When I did my doctoral program at USC, I was learning more and more about the questions that actually drew me to place and eventually led me to place making as the thing that I wanted to focus on,” he said.

In 2018, he moved to Philly for a postdoctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania, and since 2021 he has been a member of the Philadelphia Art Commission, a design review board or “art jury” for the city.

Dr. Matt has served as the Director of Justice and Belonging at the School of Design at UPenn and helped the Arts Commission approve a new statue of Harriet Tubman.

While his background is in urban planning and architecture, he hopes his experience in art and culture and storytelling will bring fresh ideas to the Tyler School and to Temple Contemporary.

“I don’t maybe fit their typical profile for an art curator, but certainly as someone that is engaged in architecture and urbanism bringing all those together into a curated space, I think that’s what really is exciting to me,” he said.

Part of how Dr. Matt plans to acclimate to his new role includes meeting with members of the Temple community, and with the wider public to learn about their experiences and expectations for Temple Contemporary’s space.

“I’m really looking to carve out my first 100 days around, sort of like a meet the director style campaign … let’s dream this up together,” he said.

He is asking the public the same two questions: How should the Temple Contemporary space make the public feel, and how can Temple Contemporary be an unforgettable destination?

He has an additional question for Temple alumni and faculty: “What do you love about what Tyler has made?

“Those are the things that are driving me that are driving a lot of the curiosity for me about how to reimagine space, and I’m still sketching out what is possible,” he said.

The public is invited to answer these questions and meet with Dr. Matt by booking a time with him through a Google doc.

Dr. Matt is also re-imagining Temple Contemporary in its place in the larger North Philly community as part of the area’s big economic transformation.

“There is the opportunity to create a destination, like a cultural destination for people that maybe don’t see themselves going north of City Hall very often,” he said.

Part of that plan for Dr. Matt is looking through one of his guiding principles, he said.

“I really ask a lot of questions around place, taste and urban change and whose tastes and cultural identities get to shape public space,” he said.

Dr. Matt hopes the responses from the public, as well as his own observations can help answer his questions. Inspired by the implementation of digital formats in museums during the pandemic, Dr. Matt wants to revamp Temple Contemporary’s “digital storefront” to make it more accessible to the public.

Though new to the role, Dr. Matt said he  is eager to transform Temple Contemporary into a popular community hub.

“This (Temple Contemporary) should be on the map, that’s what really made me excited to pursue this, to reimagine what this space, what it means to be a curator of a space that is dedicated to showcasing the best emerging talent in art and architecture,” he said.

Aside from his director duties, Dr. Matt, will teach a spring 2025 course on place making titled, “Planning and Development Program in community development and city planning,” while preparing to publish his forthcoming book.

In 2025, Temple Contemporary will launch a five-month artist residency program highlighting Native American artists.