Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for our conversation/interview with Robyne Walker Murphy.
Robyne is a nationally recognized art and social justice thought leader and cultural strategist. From
2016-2022, Robyne served as the Executive Director at Groundswell, a social justice youth
development program that uses the transformative power of public art-making to ignite personal
and societal change. Before her position at Groundswell, Robyne held positions at the National
Guild for Community Arts Education and Dreamyard where she served as the director of the
DreamYard Art Center in the Bronx. Under her leadership, DreamYard Art Center was recognized
by the Obama White House as one of the top programs in the nation. Since stepping down from
Groundswell, Robyne has worked as an arts and cultural strategist and consultant for organizations
such as the Ford Foundation, The Cricket Island Foundation, and The Billie Holiday Theatre.
Currently, she is the Leadership Strategist and Curriculum Developer for the Brooklyn Arts
Leadership Collaborative, an initiative of the Brooklyn Museum and the Joe and Clara Tsai Social
Justice Fund, which aims to support the work of eight Black and Brown-led arts organizations with
budgets under 500K.
Robyne has conducted workshops and delivered keynotes at conferences and
institutions across the country on art and social activism at institutions such as Harvard University,
Lincoln Center, Seattle Art Museum, University of Chicago, American University, and many others.
She is a member of New York City’s Cultural Advisory Committee, a Metropolitan Museum of Art
Women’s History Month Honoree, and Chair of the Board of Directors of 651ARTS. Robyne
graduated from Clark Atlanta University (B.A. in English) and the University of Washington, Seattle
(MFA, Acting). She resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Tarik Murphy, and her son, Ras.