Who We Are
Artists make our cities better. We create more ways to support them.
Commissioner was launched in 2018 to bring people together to support artists and collect art in community.
Inspired by diasporic systems of mutual support, what began as a local art project with an initial base of 80 members in Miami has since expanded into a national movement with more than 800 participants challenging conventional arts patronage through more artist-centered, community-led, and collaborative programs.
Our core model is refreshingly simple: We commission some of the most gifted contemporary artists across geographies to create limited-edition and original artworks for participants who contribute to the pool.
By making art collecting possible in ways that may not be affordable or accessible on our own, Commissioner offers alternatives for organizing resources, transforming those who love art into active stakeholders in the culture of our time.
In addition to helping broader communities build their collections with commissioned works through our program, we regularly gather to meet artists and learn more about their creative practices in unexpected and meaningful settings—like in Key Largo on a snorkeling trip, at the Saltwater Underground Railroad, or at the Prospect triennial in New Orleans. We offer year-round programming, artist studio and collector home visits, insider experiences, and travel rooted in local art ecosystems.
Our Values
Commissioner is an artist-centered organization. We believe in collaboration, experimentation, and self-determination, and in reimagining systems that prioritize care and community.
We are deeply concerned with the creative process and are committed to cultivating spaces of curiosity, belonging, and imagination for everyone.
Our Team
Over the years, each of these individuals has contributed to our vision in different ways and at different times, places, and chapters.
Dejha Carrington
Co-founder & executive director
EmailClaudia Des Rosiers
Cultural producer
EmailJenna Ingraham
Partnerships
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Curatorial Partners
- Primary
- Library Street Collective
- Amani Olu
Collaborators
- Dave Adams
- Ashley Carrington
- Fania Celestin
- Joanna Davila
- Natalia Duran
- Amanda Fischer
- Veronica Gort
- Richard Guzman
- Maryam Davani Hosseini
- Rebekah Monson
- Adaeze Nwakobi
- Mariana Pariani
- Michele Pemberton
- Gregory Pierre-Louis
City Partners
- Claire Breukel (Venice, Italy)
- Ingrid Enriquez-Donissaint (Montreal, Canada)
- Angela Mictlanxochitl Anderson Guerrero (Mexico City, Mexico)
- The Black School (Detroit, U.S.)
FILMMAKERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Alexa Caravia
- Dominique Claire-Marie
- Jayme Gershen
- Jorge Gonzalez-Graupera
- Chantal Lawrie
- Andrea Lorena
- Juan Luis Matos
- Monica McGivern
- Gesi Schilling
- Passion Ward
- Bre'Ann White
Commissioner
Commissioner was co-founded by Dejha Carrington and Rebekah Monson in 2017 with the support of a WaveMaker at Locust Projects research and development grant and Knight Foundation's Knight Arts Challenge. We launched our inaugural season one year later, in the fall of 2018, with 40 Collectors and 40 Patrons
—our founding members.
Commissioner is supported by Knight Foundation, Mitchell Wolfson Sr Foundation, The Jorge Pérez Family Foundation’s Pérez creARTE grant program, Maven Leadership Collective, and Tito's Handmade Vodka.
The Miami Foundation and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator are fiscal partners.
This project is possible because of the funders, organizations, institutions, galleries, and brands that make space for our shared work, and the people—artists, arts workers, art lovers, curators, educators, and storytellers—who power our ecosystem.
We are grateful.
Contribute to Our Vision
We imagine a future for the arts that belongs not to the privileged few, but to the artists and communities that support them.