--- description: Find out why Thelma Golden is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Thelma Golden: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bfab84c3827454/698a55ba457a52ab12d6a330/time-100-2024-thelma-golden-social.jpg?branch=production --- Updated: Jan 07, 2026Published: Apr 17, 2024 # Thelma Golden by Michelle Obama  LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 02: LACMA Trustee Thelma Golden attends the 2019 LACMA Art + Film Gala Presented By Gucci at LACMA on November 02, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 02: LACMA Trustee Thelma Golden attends the 2019 LACMA Art + Film Gala Presented By Gucci at LACMA on November 02, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA)Stefanie Keenan—LACMA/Getty Images Every once in a while, my good friend Thelma Golden will meet someone who is shocked to learn this tiny, energetic, and dynamic woman is a paradigm-­shifting curator. Some would find this disheartening. But not Thelma. She sees it as her chance to show the world exactly what she can do. As one of the most influential people in art, Thelma knows the power of flipping an assumption on its head. Her exhibits at the Studio Museum in Harlem and, previously, the Whitney not only stop you in your tracks, they also show you so much more about the depth of the Black experience. Her steadfast dedication has given voice to a [new generation of artists](https://time.com/5932847/black-art-chad-sanders/ "undefined") and curators who are ready to stir our souls too—folks who may have otherwise gone unnoticed had it not been for Thelma’s eye for talent and potential. She has broadened the world of art to better reflect the sum of us, rather than just a few. That’s power. And that’s why, while some folks might go on underestimating her, I’ll never be one of them. _Obama is a lawyer, author, and former First Lady of the United States_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/"},"headline":"Thelma Golden","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:10:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-07T07:32:20.000Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100ICONS2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bfab84c3827454/698a55ba457a52ab12d6a330/time-100-2024-thelma-golden-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bfab84c3827454/698a55ba457a52ab12d6a330/time-100-2024-thelma-golden-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/","name":"Thelma Golden"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the TIME100 2024 list","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/73p9kgIN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-04-17T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/73p9kgIN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964214/thelma-golden-2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```