Ph.D. candidate Tessa Bachi Haas '18, M.A. '19, recently curated the first major survey of New York-based artist Derrick Adams at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, where she is an assistant curator. She also co-manages the museum's publications program.
Haas specializes in digital art, time-based media, and material culture methodologies. Her doctoral adviser is History of Art Professor Homay King. She completed her M.A. thesis, “Currency, Ritual, and Craft: Cowrie Shells in the Work of Rina Banerjee,” with Associate Professor Sylvia Houghteling in 2019.
Haas' recent curatorial projects include organizing Christian Marclay: Doors, and the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize. She has worked on dozens of exhibitions and publications in Boston and Philadelphia, and has held curatorial positions at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Woodmere Art Museum, AUTOMAT, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), among others. In January 2027, Haas will open a significant collection exhibition at the ICA that draws from her ongoing graduate research.
Derrick Adams: View Master, is on display until Sept. 7, 2026.