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 of color feel welcome and...
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...
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 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. | 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 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 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...
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...
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...
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. | 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 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...
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 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...
“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...
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...
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...
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,...
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 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...
