Diana N'Diaye, Ph.D. is an interdisciplinary visual artist/maker, and folklore scholar. Her artwork, research and writing, reference sacred expressions of identity across Africa and the Diaspora.  As Senior Curator and Cultural Specialist at the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage she developed and leads the African American Craft Initiative a project for which she was recognized in 2022 as a crafts visionary by the American Crafts Council.  Other recent awards include the Americo Paredes Award for community centered folklore work from the  American Folklore Society where she is a Fellow. Her participatory craft research projects include the Will to Adorn: African American Dress and the Aesthetics of Identity, subject of an upcoming book, and The Crafts of African Fashion, featured at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  An avid advocate for equity of representation in the crafts sector, N’Diaye sits on the Board of Directors of the Center for Craft and maintains an active studio practice working primarily in textiles. Her artwork resides in both public and private collections.