About
Gabrielle Payne is an emerging curator and researcher whose work explores the intersections of material culture, futurism, and identity through exhibition-making. Currently completing a degree in Museum Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology, she brings a multidisciplinary lens shaped by her studies in jewelry and metals, archival research, and hands-on exhibition experience.
Gabi has curated a fashion-focused exhibit at RIT highlighting student design, guided by research into the spatial and visual philosophies of Italian modernists Massimo and Lella Vignelli. Her curatorial approach is informed by a deep interest in the interplay between man-made and organic forms, and the ways visual culture can be used to imagine alternative futures.
During the summer of 2025 she completed internships at the Galata Museo del Mare and the Museo Nazionale dell’Emigrazione Italiana (MEI) in Genova, Italy, where she assisted in exhibition planning, research, and public programming. Her upcoming thesis exhibitions and runway show explores Afrofuturism and Afropunk as speculative frameworks for cultural resistance, music, and visual storytelling.
Rooted in both archival practice and experimental design, Payne's curatorial work is dedicated to creating spaces that center marginalized voices, challenge linear histories, and invite immersive audience experiences.
Gabi has curated a fashion-focused exhibit at RIT highlighting student design, guided by research into the spatial and visual philosophies of Italian modernists Massimo and Lella Vignelli. Her curatorial approach is informed by a deep interest in the interplay between man-made and organic forms, and the ways visual culture can be used to imagine alternative futures.
During the summer of 2025 she completed internships at the Galata Museo del Mare and the Museo Nazionale dell’Emigrazione Italiana (MEI) in Genova, Italy, where she assisted in exhibition planning, research, and public programming. Her upcoming thesis exhibitions and runway show explores Afrofuturism and Afropunk as speculative frameworks for cultural resistance, music, and visual storytelling.
Rooted in both archival practice and experimental design, Payne's curatorial work is dedicated to creating spaces that center marginalized voices, challenge linear histories, and invite immersive audience experiences.