Hesse McGraw is a curator and writer and is vice president for exhibitions and public programs at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he directs the Walter and McBean Galleries and oversees public programs, visiting artists series and public education programs. From 2008 to 2013, he served as chief curator at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, where he developed an exhibition program focused on site-specific, immersive, cross-disciplinary and socially engaged projects.

He lectures widely and his writing has recently been published in Afterall, Art Papers, Outpost and in diverse exhibition catalogues. Recent awards and grants include an Andy Warhol Foundation Curatorial Research Fellowship, an ArtPlace America grant, a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artistic Innovation and Collaboration Grant, an NEA Our Town grant and a Harpo Foundation grant.

Diverse Discourse brings national curators, artistic directors and critics to Houston to present public lectures and conduct studio visits with selected Houston-area artists, performers and writers. Diverse Discourse provides a significant opportunity for area artists in all disciplines to have their work reviewed by a variety of distinguished arts professionals, fostering a cultural exchange across the nation between artists and cultural producers.

Diverse Discourse lectures are free, but seating is limited. DiverseWorks members may reserve a seat by emailing Jennifer Gardner at jennifer@diverseworks.org.