Darren Walker Elected President of National Gallery of Art, Head of Ford Foundation Has Been Member of Museum Board Since 2019
A PROMINENT AND INFLUENTIAL FIGURE in philanthropy and the arts, Darren Walker was elected president of the National Gallery of Art (NGA). Walker has been a member of the museum’s board since 2019. The nine-member board governs the museum, appointing the executive director and executive officers, advising on policies such as acquisitions, and supporting the...
Recent News in Black Art: Michaela Yearwood-Dan Joined Mega-Gallery Hauser & Wirth, Nikita Gale Awarded $100,000 Whitney Biennial Prize, Architect Charles Fleming & More
Recent News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Michaela Yearwood-Dan in her studio, 2024. | Photo by Ollie Adegboye REPRESENTATION Michaela Yearwood-Dan Now Represented by Hauser & Wirth Hauser & Wirth announced its representation of Michaela Yearwood-Dan (b. 1994) in collaboration with Marianne Boesky...
MacArthur Foundation Announced 2024 ‘Genius’ Fellows, Recipients of $800,000 Grants Include Artists Ebony G. Patterson and Tony Cokes
Ebony G. Patterson. | Courtesy John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation EMPLOYING BEAUTY, BLING, brilliant color, and the symbolism of the garden, Ebony G. Patterson, makes intensely layered and embellished works that explore complex themes—many of them not so pretty—including visibility, pageantry, violence, death, mourning, and regeneration. Over the past few years, the...
Taylor Renee Aldridge Joined Modern Ancient Brown Foundation in Detroit as Executive Director, Appointment Marks Return to Her Hometown
IN DETROIT, MICH., the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation (MAB) welcomed Taylor Renee Aldridge as executive director. Aldridge joined the foundation from the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles, where she had been visual arts curator & program manager since 2020. The MAB appointment marks a homecoming for Aldridge, who was born and raised...
Moving On Up: 35 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in First Half of 2024
Culture Type reports on new appointments of Black curators and arts leaders to get a sense of representation in museums, 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...
2024 Heinz Award Goes to Jennie C. Jones, Honor Includes $250,000 Prize
Jennie C. Jones. | Photo by Joshua Franzos THE UNIQUE PRACTICE of Jennie C. Jones (b. 1968) has gained increasing attention and more prominent platforms in recent years. A sonic and visual artist, Jones works across painting, sculpture, sound, and installation. In 2022, her exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York...
Jessica Bell Brown to Lead Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond
IN RICHMOND, VA., the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University appointed Jessica Bell Brown its next executive director. ICA at VCU opened its doors in 2018. In less than a decade, the young institution has established itself as a dynamic space with a formidable contemporary art program engaging with local and regional figures...
Latest News in Black Art: Francis Kéré Designing Las Vegas Museum, Ashley James Curating Kingston Biennial, Deana Lawson Guest-Edited Aperture Magazine & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Concept design for Las Vegas Museum of Art. | Kéré Architecture MUSEUMS Francis Kéré Designing Forthcoming Las Vegas Museum Las Vegas, Nev., is getting an art museum designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré. Elaine Wynn,...
Metropolitan Museum of Art Welcomed Candice Yates as Senior Research Associate of James Van Der Zee Archive
JAMES VAN DER ZEE (American, 1886-1983), “Self-portrait,” 1931 (gelatin silver print). | © James Van Der Zee Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art A VAST COLLECTION representing the legacy of Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee (1886-1983) is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The expansive holdings include about...
Courtney J. Martin Recently Joined Robert Rauschenberg Foundation as Executive Director, Calling Opportunity ‘Unparalleled’
Courtney J. Martin, 2024. Photo by Mara Lavitt Courtney J. Martin is the first Black person to lead a major artist-endowed foundation ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT artist-endowed foundations has a new leader. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced the appointment of Courtney J. Martin as executive director in February. A curator and art...
Teiger Foundation Awarded More Than $4 Million in Grants to Dozens of Curators, Funding Many Exhibitions and Projects Focused on African American Artists
CRENSHAW DAIRY MART | Opening Reception, “JUICE WOOD: I Could Show You..,” Crenshaw Dairy Mart, Inglewood, Calif. (Sept. 24–29, 2023), Presented as part of The Crenshaw Dairy Mart Fellowship For Abolition And The Advancement of the Creative Economy (CDM-FAACE). | Courtesy the artist and Crenshaw Dairy Mart, Photo by Angel Xotlanihua / Elon Schoenholz ...
George Nelson Preston is Now Represented by Ryan Lee Gallery in New York, His Work is Rooted in the Memory and History of the Afro Atlantic World
George Nelson Preston, 2023. | Photo by Frank Stewart, Courtesy the artist and RYAN LEE Gallery New York RYAN LEE GALLERY in New York added George Nelson Preston (b. 1938) to its roster. Preston makes mixed-media, abstract paintings. In the representation announcement, the gallery described his work as “rooted in the memory and historical...
Allison Glenn Tapped as Artistic Director of the Shepherd, Multifaceted Community-Oriented Arts Campus in East Detroit
Allison Glenn. | Photo by Grace Roselli A NEW EXHIBITION opened this month in East Detroit. “In an effort to be held” at the Shepherd is presented by Library Street Collective and curated by Allison Glenn, a New York-based curator and writer. Featuring 26 artists, the group show focuses on experimentation with material and...
Bergan Burnett is New Chief Financial Officer at High Museum of Art in Atlanta
THE NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Ga., is Bergan Burnett. A longstanding Atlanta resident and member of the museum, Burnett has a record of leading financial and accounting operations at nonprofits. In the role of CFO of the High Museum, she is responsible for financial operations, planning,...
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,...
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...
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...
