John Steven Welch loves writing and has pursued different forms of it throughout his life. Welch holds a doctorate in art history from Princeton University with his dissertation on nineteenth-century British photographer, Roger Fenton. He also holds a master’s from Princeton and a bachelor’s from Columbia University (GS). Welch has authored numerous articles and served as assistant editor and author for a special issue of on the State of Black Museums, The Public Historian, August 2018.
An art historian with 15+ years of museum experience including positions as: Director of Education, Program Manager, and Administrator. His work as a Museum Educator focused on strategic planning, community outreach, K-12 program development, museum volunteer (docent) training and management, and audience engagement.
Turning now to fiction, Welch has produced a debut novel which charts an urban black Youth’s coming of age in Washington, D.C., during the 1960s and 70s. It blurs the line between literary and commercial fiction, written from the perspective of a gay Black man coming to term with his sexuality, race, and class—a story about unique paths of love and difference leading to elevation and, ultimately, self-actualization.