Essence Harden is the curator of Expo Chicago 2026, the co-curator of Made in LA, 2025, at The Hammer Museum, and curator of the Focus section for Frieze LA, 2024 - 2026. Essence has curated exhibitions at the California African American Museum (CAAM), the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), Art + Practice, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), and the Oakland Museum of California, among others.

Essence is a contributor to Frieze Magazine, Gagosian Quartley, The Los Angeles Times Magazine: Image, Art21, Contemporary Art Review LA (CARLA), Artsy, Cultured Magazine, and has written catalog entries for Made in LA 2025; California Biennial: Pacific Gold; Made in LA: Acts of Living; Prospect 5: Yesterday we said tomorrow;  Brave New Worlds: Exploration of Space: Palm Springs Art Museum; and What Needs to Be Said: Hallie Ford Fellows Exhibition. Essence has also served as an art consultant for film and television.

Essence is a 2025 recipient of the Teiger Foundation research grant, a 2018 recipient of The Creative Capital, Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, and a 2020 Annenberg Innovation Lab Civic Media Fellow.

Essence previously served as a Visual Arts Curator at the California African American Museum.