Kristen J. Owens is an arts administrator, researcher, and curator exploring the intersections of fashion, visual culture, and the Black American experience. She has curated exhibitions including Dressed at Rutgers University-Newark’s Paul Robeson Galleries (2018) and ReVision and Respond at The Newark Museum of Art (2021). As a researcher, she has presented papers on African American photography and conduct literature, such as etiquette manuals, at conferences including Fashioning the Black Body in Bondage and Freedom (Brooklyn, 2017) and the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference (San Diego, 2017).
Owens holds an MA in Visual Culture: Costume Studies and an MS in Library and Information Science from New York University’s dual degree program with LIU Palmer. She holds a BA in Fashion Studies and has returned to her alma mater, Montclair State University as a lecturer in that subject. Presently, Owens is the Associate Curator (Programs) at Paul Robeson Galleries, Express Newark, Rutgers University- Newark.