Sixto A. Wagan, Jr.

Learn. Challenge. Evaluate. Adapt.

Facilitating change at the juncture of art, community, and equity.
image of a male-identified figure with graying black hair and a salt and pepper beard dressed in a blue suit with a white and blue striped shirt. In the background is the Houston skyline.

Sixto Wagan is the Executive Director for the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund (BANF), a community-led collaborative fund and a resource network guided by arts leaders, practitioners, and funders. Wagan leads the $12.6M initiative to build a more vital BIPOC arts ecosystem in Greater Houston by devising equity-focused and community-led resource initiatives and evaluation methodologies. In three years, BANF invested over $10 million in more than 175 organizations, artists, and artist collectives dedicated to supporting and celebrating Houston’s communities of color.

Wagan’s career is defined by a deep commitment to the intersections of art, community, and equity. Prior to BANF, he founded the Center for Art and Social Engagement (CASE) at the University of Houston, where he pioneered programs and partnerships that embedded creative practice within civic dialogue and social impact initiatives. With curator Ryan Dennis, he co-developed the KGMCA–Project Row Houses Fellowship, a nationally recognized model for artist-led research and community collaboration rooted in the People and Place methodology of Project Row Houses.

Previously, Wagan held multiple leadership roles at DiverseWorks, one of Houston’s most influential contemporary art spaces, including Artistic Director, Co-Executive Director, and Performing Arts Curator. Throughout his tenure, he championed artists who interrogate urgent cultural, political, and social issues, and he established DiverseWorks as a hub for experimental, community-participatory work.

A sought-after strategist and thought partner, Wagan currently serves on the boards of Grantmakers in the Arts and MAP Fund. He frequently speaks at national convenings on topics including equity in philanthropy, leadership transitions, cultural stewardship, and the role of arts in social transformation. His consulting practice specializes in strategic visioning, organizational health, and culturally responsive evaluation.

Wagan holds a Master’s degree in Teaching with a focus on interdisciplinary curriculum design. He earned his undergraduate degree in visual arts, studying drawing and printmaking under Karin Broker and painting with Bas Poulos. A committed artist and cultural agitator, Wagan co-founded QuAC: The Queer Artist Collective in 1996 with DN Bashir, a dynamic, intersectional performance collective that produced 17 original full-length works in three years and activated non-traditional spaces with queer creative expression.

He has completed advanced trainings in Adaptive Leadership Facilitation through EMC Arts and Anti-Racist Facilitation through ArtEquity. Today, Wagan continues to expand his impact as a facilitator, evaluator, and advocate for artists and communities driving systemic change.