Jonathan Gardenhire (b. 1992, Lower East Side, New York) is an artist, art advisor, and cultural strategist whose practice bridges creative production, institutional leadership, and civic engagement. Trained as a photographer at Parsons School of Design (BFA, 2014), his work explores contemporary image-making and social narratives, earning him recognition including the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Photography (2019),  Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop SIP Fellowship, and the Cultural Advocacy Fellowship at The Caribbean Cultural Center, among others. 

Alongside his studio practice, Gardenhire has built a career advancing equity and sustainability across the arts. He has held leadership roles at major institutions including Hauser & Wirth, where he became the first Black Sales Director, providing strategic leadership in sales, artist relations, and institutional partnerships; The Museum of Modern Art, where he spearheaded the renaming of The Friends of Education to The Black Arts Council, advancing inclusivity and visibility; and MoMA PS1, where as Assistant Director of Individual Giving he revitalized the donor program and expanded pathways for sustained community engagement. Earlier in his career, he worked with Artadia, Creative Time, and Salon 94, developing artist programs, coordinating exhibitions, and contributing to public art projects nationwide.

In addition to his work in the arts, Gardenhire has been active in civic life, having been elected District Leader of the 65th Assembly District in Lower Manhattan, serving three terms and becoming one of the youngest Democratic Party Leaders in New York State history.

Through both his artistic and institutional leadership, Gardenhire’s work demonstrates that culture-making is a form of world-building—an active imagining of more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures where artists, collectors, and communities coexist in mutual transformation.