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An essential resource focused on visual art from a Black perspective, Culture Type explores the intersection of art, history, and culture

Moving On Up: 24 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in Second Half of 2024

Moving On Up: 24 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in Second Half of 2024

CULTURE TYPE reports on new appointments of Black curators and arts leaders to gauge institutional representation, with an emphasis on art museums. Museum leaders, curators, and educators shape the management and intellectual direction of institutions, determine the art visitors see and the programming they experience and, by extension, whether audiences...
Commissioned During the Carter Era, Jacob Lawrence's Presidential Inauguration Image Centers the American People

Commissioned During the Carter Era, Jacob Lawrence’s Presidential Inauguration Image Centers the American People

“The Swearing In” (1977) by Jacob Lawrence   TO DEPICT THE WINTER CHILL of Inauguration Day, Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) relied on a trio of visual cues—bare-branched trees; a two-toned blue sky; and a series of figures huddled in coats, hats, and scarves. Rich with narrative, an efficient composition, methodic use...
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Ryan N. Dennis Named Co-Director and Chief Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Closely Watched Curator Will Lead Museum in Her Hometown

Ryan N. Dennis Named Co-Director and Chief Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Closely Watched Curator Will Lead Museum in Her Hometown

From left: Ryan N. Dennis. | Photo by Charles A. Smith; Melissa McDonnell Luján. | Photo by Fernanda Varela Rivera. Both Images Courtesy CAMH   Ryan N. Dennis and Melissa McDonnell Luján appointed co-directors of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, effective January 2025   NEW LEADERSHIP is coming to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). Senior Curator...
Naomi Beckwith Appointed Artistic Director of Forthcoming Documenta in Kassel, Curator Called Opportunity to Lead International Exhibition 'Honor of a Lifetime'

Naomi Beckwith Appointed Artistic Director of Forthcoming Documenta in Kassel, Curator Called Opportunity to Lead International Exhibition ‘Honor of a Lifetime’

DOCUMENTA 16 will take place under the artistic direction of Naomi Beckwith. An American curator, scholar, and art historian, Beckwith is Deputy Director and Jennifer & David Stockman Chief Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation in New York. Documenta is one of the most prominent art shows in the world, rivaled only...
Latest News in Black Art: Artist Lorraine O'Grady Has Died, Zoe Whitley is Departing Chisenhale Gallery, Family Seeks Return of Paintings From Louisiana Museums & More

Latest News in Black Art: Artist Lorraine O’Grady Has Died, Zoe Whitley is Departing Chisenhale Gallery, Family Seeks Return of Paintings From Louisiana Museums & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Lorraine O’Grady. | Photo by Lelanie Foster, Courtesy the artist and Mariane Ibrahim gallery   LIVES Conceptual Artist Lorraine O’Grady Has Died at 90 New York artist Lorraine O’Grady (1934-2024) died at her home on Nov. 13....
Nikki Giovanni, 81, Profound Poet Whose Poignant Verse Reflected the Evolving Times in Which She Lived, Has Died

Nikki Giovanni, 81, Profound Poet Whose Poignant Verse Reflected the Evolving Times in Which She Lived, Has Died

Nikki Giovanni. | Photo © Nikki Giovanni   A PROFOUND VOICE and insightful wordsmith has passed on. Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), the American poet, professor, public intellectual, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, died in Blacksburg, Va., on Nov. 9. She was 81 years old. Virginia C. Fowler, Giovanni’s wife, told the New York...
Latest News in Black Art: New Leader at McColl Center in North Carolina, Alvin Ailey Names Next Artistic Director, Laura Wheeler Waring Portrait Covers Antiques Magazine, Romare Bearden Documentary & More

Latest News in Black Art: New Leader at McColl Center in North Carolina, Alvin Ailey Names Next Artistic Director, Laura Wheeler Waring Portrait Covers Antiques Magazine, Romare Bearden Documentary & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Asa Jackson. | Courtesy McColl Center   APPOINTMENTS Asa Jackson to Helm McColl Center for Artists in North Carolina The McColl Center in Charlotte, N.C., announced its next president and CEO. Asa Jackson will lead the art...
American Scholar Saidiya Hartman, British Artist Steve McQueen Top Power 100 List of Influential Figures in International Art World

American Scholar Saidiya Hartman, British Artist Steve McQueen Top Power 100 List of Influential Figures in International Art World

American scholar Saidiya Hartman and British artist Steve McQueen are the highest-ranking Black people on this year’s Power 100 list.   SINCE 2002, ARTREVIEW has published a Power 100 list of influential artists, curators, gallerists, collectors, funders, and thinkers. The London-based contemporary art magazine describes the Power 100 as a “structural portrait of international contemporary...
International Curator Koyo Kouoh Tapped to Organize 2026 Venice Biennale, She is 'Ecstatic' and Called it a 'Momentous Mission'

International Curator Koyo Kouoh Tapped to Organize 2026 Venice Biennale, She is ‘Ecstatic’ and Called it a ‘Momentous Mission’

Koyo Kouoh will curate the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. | Photograph by Mirjam Kluka, Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia   Koyo Kouoh is first Black woman and second African-born curator to organize Venice Biennale in international exhibition’s 130-year history   THE NEXT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of the Venice Biennale is Koyo Kouoh. She will curate...
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Appointed New Leadership Team: Director John K. Lapiana and Deputy Director Heran Sereke-Brhan

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Appointed New Leadership Team: Director John K. Lapiana and Deputy Director Heran Sereke-Brhan

New Appointments at Smithsonian National Museum of African Art: From left, Director John K. Lapiana. | Photo: Noah Willman; Deputy Director Heran Sereke-Brhan. | Courtesy National Museum of Africa Art   THE YEAR 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA). The Washington, D.C., museum is concluding the milestone...
Baltimore Museum of Art Celebrated 110th Anniversary with Ball Honoring Artists LaToya Ruby Frazier and John Akomfrah and Civil Rights Changemaker Sherrilyn Ifill

Baltimore Museum of Art Celebrated 110th Anniversary with Ball Honoring Artists LaToya Ruby Frazier and John Akomfrah and Civil Rights Changemaker Sherrilyn Ifill

The Baltimore Museum of Art’s Ball and Party honored artist LaToya Ruby Frazier; artist John Akomfrah; and BMA Trustee, civil rights lawyer, and scholar Sherrilyn Ifill. | Photo by Maximilian Frazier   THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART (BMA) hosted a gala celebration on Nov. 23. The BMA Ball and Afterparty marked the institution’s 110th anniversary...
Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta Joined Tyler School of Art and Architecture as Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs

Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta Joined Tyler School of Art and Architecture as Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs

Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta. | Photo courtesy Matthew Kenyatta   IN PHILADELPHIA, PA., Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University announced the appointment of Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta as director of exhibitions and public programs. He started earlier this month. Kenyatta leads Temple Contemporary, Tyler’s center for exhibitions and public engagement, where he is focusing...
Latest News in Black Art: Jane Carpenter-Rock Named Interim Director of Smithsonian Art Museum, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet at Brooklyn Museum, Herbert Gentry at Art Basel Miami Beach & More

Latest News in Black Art: Jane Carpenter-Rock Named Interim Director of Smithsonian Art Museum, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet at Brooklyn Museum, Herbert Gentry at Art Basel Miami Beach & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   APPOINTMENTS Shake Up at Smithsonian American Art Museum Since September, Jane Carpenter-Rock has been serving as acting director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. Carpenter-Rock joined SAAM as deputy director...
Linda C. Harrison is Departing Newark Museum of Art, She 'Has Been a Transformative Leader of This Anchor Cultural Institution'

Linda C. Harrison is Departing Newark Museum of Art, She ‘Has Been a Transformative Leader of This Anchor Cultural Institution’

DIRECTOR AND CEO Linda C Harrison is departing the Newark Museum of Art on May 31, 2025. The museum announced Harrison is returning to the West Coast for “family reasons.” A search committee appointed by the museum’s board of trustees will conduct a national search for her successor. The Newark Museum of Art is the...
Latest News in Black Art: Anina Major Received Future Perfect Design Prize, Board Appointments at African Art Museum, Amy Sherald Covers Cultured Magazine & More

Latest News in Black Art: Anina Major Received Future Perfect Design Prize, Board Appointments at African Art Museum, Amy Sherald Covers Cultured Magazine & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   From left, Anina Major received the inaugural Future Perfect Prize in design. | Courtesy The Future Perfact; ANINA MAJOR, “Off Spring,” 2024 (soda-fired glazed stoneware, seaglass, sand, 10 x 12.25 x 8.75 inches). | © Anina Major...
On View: 'Shinique Smith: Parade' at Florida's Ringling Museum Presents Contemporary American Sculptures in Dialogue With Historic European Art

On View: ‘Shinique Smith: Parade’ at Florida’s Ringling Museum Presents Contemporary American Sculptures in Dialogue With Historic European Art

“Mitumba Deity II” by Shinique Smith installed in the Astor Salon gallery, The Ringling Museum of Art. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   GIVING CONTEXT, highlighting connections, and challenging accepted art histories, recent museum exhibitions have presented works by contemporary Black artists in dialogue with historic...
New York: 5 Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Artists Trenton Doyle Hancock, Kara Walker, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Terry Adkins, and Elias Sime

New York: 5 Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Artists Trenton Doyle Hancock, Kara Walker, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Terry Adkins, and Elias Sime

WHAT TO SEE IN NEW YORK? Five solo exhibitions explore the unexpected. Best known for her monochromatic cut-paper silhouettes, Kara Walker’s latest show features a few dozen watercolors produced in a spectrum of color. New collage paintings made by Trenton Doyle Hancock explore satirical narratives with his superhero character confronting Philip Guston’s Klan figures. Also...
On View: 'Beverly McIver: Entangled' at Berry Campbell Gallery in New York Presents Emotional, Truth-Telling Portraits

On View: ‘Beverly McIver: Entangled’ at Berry Campbell Gallery in New York Presents Emotional, Truth-Telling Portraits

BEVERLY MCIVER, Entangled #1, 2024 (oil on canvas, 60 x 96 inches / 152.4 x 243.8 cm). | © Beverly McIver   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   ARTISTS OFTEN SPEAK about the need be seen, represented, and have a voice. Beverly McIver (b. 1962) takes it a step further. She is candid...
A Life in Pictures: Judith Jamison (1943-2024) Alvin Ailey Dancer and Choreographer Led Storied Company to New Heights

A Life in Pictures: Judith Jamison (1943-2024) Alvin Ailey Dancer and Choreographer Led Storied Company to New Heights

Judith Jamison. | Photo by Andrew Eccles   AN ELEGANT FORCE and transformative figure in the dance world, Judith Jamison died on Nov. 9 in New York City. She was 81. A dancer, choreographer, and artistic director, Jamison worked with many prominent figures early on, including Agnes de Mille, Carmen de Lavallade, and Geoffrey Holder,...
Recent Appointments: Chief Curator Joined Boston African American Museum, Brooklyn Museum Welcomed New Chief People Officer, Newfields Hired a CEO & More

Recent Appointments: Chief Curator Joined Boston African American Museum, Brooklyn Museum Welcomed New Chief People Officer, Newfields Hired a CEO & More

FROM LOS ANGELES to Boston, Mass., museums have announced new appointments in leadership, curatorial, and other key staff roles in recent months. The following highlights several new hires:   Angela Tate. | Photo by Breanna Biorato, Courtesy Museum of African American History Boston I Nantucket   Angela Tate Named Chief Curator at Boston African American...
Latest News in Black Art: Ralph Lemon Now Repped by Paula Cooper Gallery, LACMA Fêted Simone Leigh, CFDA Honored Rachel Scott, Quincy Jones Has Died & More

Latest News in Black Art: Ralph Lemon Now Repped by Paula Cooper Gallery, LACMA Fêted Simone Leigh, CFDA Honored Rachel Scott, Quincy Jones Has Died & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Ralph Lemon, an artist, choreographer, and 2020 MacAarthur Fellow, joined Paula Cooper Gallery. | Photo: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation   REPRESENTATION Paula Cooper Gallery Added Ralph Lemon to Roster Ralph Lemon (b. 1952), a...
Election 2024: Museums Serving as Voting Sites Are Also Presenting Exhibitions of Elizabeth Catlett, Tyler Mitchell, and Other African American Artists

Election 2024: Museums Serving as Voting Sites Are Also Presenting Exhibitions of Elizabeth Catlett, Tyler Mitchell, and Other African American Artists

THE 2024 CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY is historic in many respects. Democracy and freedom are on the ballot and the United States may elect its first female president. The attention of the world is on Tuesday’s election. Museums are engaged in the election, too. Election Day (Nov. 5) is upon us with schools, libraries, community...