Biography

Freddy Janka is a queer Latinx arts advocate and cultural producer born in and currently based in Santa Barbara, California, on the unceded traditional lands of the Chumash people. He is a contemporary art and museum professional whose work centers on curating and fundraising for artists and exhibitions, advocating for the preservation of cultural resources, and advancing Black, Brown, and Indigenous solidarity as a practice of collective healing. He regularly consults on nonprofit leadership and development, curatorial initiatives and public programming, artist career development and legacy planning, editorial and brand partnerships, and contemporary art focused travel.

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With over 20 years of experience across the contemporary art world, Janka has held key administrative, fundraising, and curatorial roles across galleries, museums, and arts nonprofits in the United States and Mexico. He currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, where he led a consortium of artists and arts workers to successfully reopen the museum in 2023. He is also an ambassador for KCLU Public Radio.

 

His previous positions include Founding Executive Director of the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation in Ojai; Director of Development at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara; Associate Director at SculptureCenter in New York; Membership and Events Director at the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) and the NADA Art Fair in New York and Miami; and Curator at Nina Menocal Gallery in Mexico City.​ From 2020 to 2025, he was a cohort member and Hospitality Director for the Readying the Museum initiative at ASU Art Museum, funded by the Ford and Mellon Foundations. From 2017 to 2023, he served on the City of Santa Barbara’s Art Advisory Committee, including four years as Chair. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Critical Studies from the School the The Art Institute of Chicago.