Kenvi Phillips Appointed Director of Barack Obama Presidential Library at the National Archives, HBCU Alum is Leading First Digital Presidential Library
OVER THE COURSE of her two-decade career, American historian Kenvi Phillips has achieved a number of firsts. Her latest is tied to the first Black President of the United States. Phillips is the inaugural director of the Barack Obama Presidential Library. She is charged with leading all library activities across planning, administration, and programming. Colleen...
TK Smith Joined Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum as Curator, Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora, ‘He Uses Art as Portal for Understanding Our Histories’
EMORY UNIVERSITY in Atlanta, Ga., welcomed TK Smith as curator of the arts of Africa and the diaspora at the Michael C. Carlos Museum. Smith is a curator, writer, lecturer, and cultural historian who has been based in Atlanta and Philadelphia, Pa. His new appointment at the campus museum was announced Aug. 1. “TK is...
Latest News in Black Art: Stella Jean Designs Haiti’s Olympic Uniforms, Christelle Oyiri Selected for Tate Commission, Kennedy Center Honoring The Apollo & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Stella Jean designed the Haiti Olympic Team’s opening ceremony outfits. | Courtesy Stella Jean DESIGN Designer Stella Jean x 2024 Haiti Olympic Team Haitian Italian designer Stella Jean, whose eponymous label is based in Rome, Italy,...
Leilah Babirye’s Hand-Built Ceramic and Carved Wood Sculptures are Expressive Portraits of Her LGBTQ+ Community
Installation view of “Leilah Babirye: We Have a History,” de Young Museum, San Francisco, Calif., 2024. | Photo by Gary Sexton, Courtesy de Young Museum WORKING WITH TRADITIONAL ceramic and wood-carving methods from Western and Central Africa, Leilah Babirye (b. 1985) makes contemporary sculptures that are all her own. She produces hand-built ceramic busts...
Venus Over Manhattan Now Represents Claude Lawrence, Jazz Trumpeter Added Abstract Painting to His Repertoire in 1980s
Portrait of Claude Lawrence with “Sundown Town” (2022), on view in his exhibition “Reflections on Porgy & Bess at Venus Over Manhattan,” 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Venus Over Manhattan, New York VENUS OVER MANHATTAN gallery in New York announced its representation Claude Lawrence (b. 1944), an abstract painter whose work is intrinsically...
Brothers Boscoe Holder and Geoffrey Holder Built Storied Careers in Dance and Performance With Painting Ever Present in Their Pursuit of the Arts
GEOFFREY HOLDER, “Swimmers II,” 1986 (colored pencil on paper, 91.4 x 116.8 cm / 36 x 46 inches). | © Geoffrey Holder, Courtesy the Geoffrey Holder Estate and James Fuentes TRUE RENAISSANCE MEN, brothers Boscoe Holder (1921-2007) and Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014) were active across multiple artistic disciplines, including dance, choreography, music, acting, and painting....
Picturing White House Leadership: For Four Years, Photographer Lawrence Jackson Has Trained His Lens on VP Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris walks onstage to speak at the kickoff for the Reproductive Freedoms Tour, Monday, January 22, 2024, at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 7 in Big Bend, Wisconsin. | Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson THE IMAGES ARE HISTORIC: Vice President Kamala Harris launching...
Paris 2024: Alison Saar’s Olympic Installation Offers Welcoming Place to Sit and Reflect in Garden of Champs-Elysées
“Salon” (2024), a bronze installation by Alison Saar, was inaugurated on June 23, 2024, in the public garden of the Champs-Elysées in Paris, France. | Photo by Fred Mauviel, Courtesy City of Paris THE PARIS OLYMPICS open next week and there is great anticipation and rampant speculation about how sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson will fare...
Audrey Hudson is Joining Philadelphia Museum of Art as Deputy Director of Learning and Engagement: ‘I Am Pumped By the Opportunity’
THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART (PMA) is welcoming Audrey Hudson as the Kathleen C. Sherrerd Deputy Director for Learning and Engagement, a leadership role at the museum. Hudson brings a range of experience across academia, art education, museum learning, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices. She is joining PMA from the Art Gallery...
Latest News in Black Art: San Francisco Gets Thomas J. Price Sculpture, Art by Charles Gaines and Nina Chanel Abney at JFK Airport, New CEO at Muhammad Ali Center
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture THOMAS PRICE, Installation view of “As Sounds Turn to Noise,” 2023 (bronze, 110 3/8 inches high x 47 1/2 inches wide x 32 3/4 inches deep). | Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, Photo: San Francisco...
SCAD Museum of Art Named Andreia Wardlaw Director of Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies
THE SCAD MUSEUM OF ART (SCAD MOA) at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in Georgia appointed Andreia Wardlaw director of the Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies. The July 10 announcement described Wardlaw as “an experienced leader and community builder who is passionate about education and the arts.” She...
On View: ‘Will Stovall: Kant Crisis’ at Ulrik Gallery in New York, Artist’s First-Ever Solo Exhibition is Inspired by German Philosophy
WILL STOVALL, “Circus,” 2022 (oil on canvas, walnut frame, 15 1/4 x 26 3/4 inches / 38.7 x 67.9 cm). | © Will Stovall, Courtesy the artist and Ulrik On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOR HIS FIRST-EVER solo exhibition, Will Stovall is presenting a series of intimately scaled paintings inspired by...
Latest News in Black Art: New Director for Georgetown University Art Galleries, ‘Giants’ Exhibition Traveling to High Museum, Kenturah Davis Lands Baltimore Museum of Art Residency & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Jaynelle Hazard. | Courtesy Georgetown Galleries APPOINTMENTS Georgetown University Art Galleries Welcome New Director In Washington, D.C., Georgetown University’s College of Art & Sciences recruited Jaynelle Hazard (above) to helm its art galleries. Hazard was appointed...
In Memoriam: Artists, Curators, and Friends Remember Faith Ringgold as a ‘Great Artist,’ ‘Fearless Activist,’ and ‘Blessing to All of Us’
An Evening with Faith Ringgold: Serpentine Galleries hosted a conversation with the artist, conducted by Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist at Conway Hall in London (June 6, 2019). | Photo © Talie Rose Eigeland AN EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST known for her political paintings and story quilts, Faith Ringgold, (1930-2024) lived a long and productive life....
2024 Wheelwright Prize: Thandi Loewenson Wins Harvard University’s $100,000 Architectural Research Fellowship
AN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER AND RESEARCHER, Thandi Loewenson (b. 1989) wants to learn more about the connections between land and African liberation and dig deeper to understand how the racist exploits of colonialism have influenced not only dispossession and redistribution of surface terrain, but also bear on resources below ground and high up in the atmosphere....
On View: ‘Sylvia Snowden: Painting Humanity’ Features Abstracted Portraits Thick With Paint and Rich With Color at UK’s Hepworth Wakefield
SYLVIA SNOWDEN, “Beverly Johnson,” 1978 (acrylic and oil pastel on Masonite, 121.9 x 243.8 cm). | © Sylvia Snowden. Courtesy Edel Assanti and Franklin Parrasch Gallery. Photo by Andy Keate On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions WASHINGTON, D.C. ARTIST Sylvia Snowden (b. 1942) is presenting her first solo institutional exhibition in Europe....
Brendan Fernandes is Now Co-Represented by Galleries in New York and Chicago, Artist Works at Intersection of Dance and Visual Art
BRENDAN FERNANDES, “As One X,” 2017 (digital print, 14 x 20 inches), Edition of 3 plus 2 A.P. (BF0010). | © Brendan Fernandes. Courtesy Susan Inglett Gallery, NY, and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION of dance and visual art, Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979) has developed a singular practice. “For me, dance...
Changing the Face of Democracy: In New York, Major Museum Exhibition and Centennial Tribute Explores Life and Work of Political Trailblazer Shirley Chisholm
Installation view of “Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100,” Museum of the City of New York, New York, N.Y. (June 24, 2024-July 20, 2025). | Courtesy MCNY A POLITICAL TRAILBLAZER and historic Presidential candidate from New York, Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) ‘changed the face of democracy,’ gave a voice to ordinary citizens,...
On View: ‘Ranti Bam: Anima’ at James Cohan Marks New York Debut of British Nigerian Artist Known for Sculptural Ceramics
Installation view of “Ranti Bam: Anima,” James Cohan Gallery, 291 Grand Street, New York, N.Y. (May 17-July 26, 2024). | Photo by Phoebe Dheurle On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOR HER FIRST EXHIBITION in New York, British Nigerian artist Ranti Bam (b. 1982) is presenting two bodies of sculptural ceramics: Abstract...
Latest News in Black Art: Robert Peterson Joins GAVLAK, Nina Chanel Abney x Air Jordan, June Clark Makes Sobey Art Award Shortlist, SFMOMA Acquisitions & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture ROBERT PETERSON, “Gods favorite,” 2023 (oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inches / 182.9 x 243.84 cm). | © Robert Peterson. Permanent collection of Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio. Courtesy the artist and GAVLAK REPRESENTATION...
