User:Mimi.roberts

Hi, I'm Mimi and am new to Wikipedia editing. I work for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), and for years I've been dismayed at the overall poor quality of the content about New Mexico on Wikipedia. Up to now my efforts to do something about it have not been successful, although I've hovered around the edges of Wikipedia:GLAM. Anyone with an interest in any aspect of New Mexico history and culture who is interested in getting involved or coming to New Mexico for a stint as a Wikipedian-in-Residence should feel free to contact me for connections to a cultural institution that could use your help.

My job title is Director for Media Projects, and one of the main things I've been doing for about the past ten years is building and administering a partnership between DCA and the Department of Media Arts & Technology at New Mexico Highlands University, that prepares media arts students for careers in the cultural industry in what we call "cultural technology", the emerging field at the intersection of computer networks, digital media, and cultural and scientific content. The other part of what I do is to try to promote the use of technology within my own agency.

In terms of my background, I lived in California until 1994, when I relocated with my family to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have a degree in Comparative Culture from U.C. Irvine and a masters degree in art history and museum studies from the George Washington University. In 1997 I was the U.S. Commissioner of the Venice Biennale, where I curated an exhibition of the painter Robert Colescott, the first African-American artist to represent the U.S. at that event in a single-artist exhibition. I've worked for DCA since 2000. From 2000 - 2005 I administered TREX: the Traveling Exhibitions Program of the Museum of New Mexico, a program that sadly met its demise on my watch. Throughout a long and varied career I've been committed to diverifying the workforce in museums and expanding access to culture for all. Since moving to New Mexico that has included people living in rural communities where the populations are mainly low-income and underserved-minority.