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...
Celebrating African American Art Throughout the Year, 2025 Calendars Focus on Richard Mayhew, Alma Thomas, Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Feature Barkley Hendricks
THE POWERFUL PORTRAITS of Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) are in a category of their own. Key elements characterize the late artist’s paintings, including his masterful use of color. “Miss Brown To You” (1970) by Hendricks, pictures his subject wearing a red top against a red background. When he employed this stylized approach, Hendricks described the...
Latest News in Black Art: Ingrid Pollard Wins Hasselblad Photography Award, New Gallery Representation for Alberta Wittle, Coco Fusco, and Julien Creuzet & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Ingrid Pollard reflects on her work and winning the 2024 Hasselblad Award. When she was first contacted about the honor, Pollard assumed it was a scam. After realizing she indeed was the recipient, she thought about being...
Michelle Commander: New Deputy Director of National Museum of African American History and Culture Joining Smithsonian From Schomburg Center
THE SMITHSONIAN’S National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) named a new deputy director on Jan. 10. Michelle Commander is joining the Washington, D.C., museum in the No. 2 role. She arrives from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where she served most recently as deputy...
Founding Deputy Director Kinshasha Holman Conwill Has Retired From Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
A MUSEUM LEADER and institution builder, Kinshasha Holman Conwill dedicated her entire career to being a faithful steward of art, history, and culture, establishing the background and experience necessary to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. Few get the chance to help envision and develop a monument to the African American experience, from ideas...
Latest News in Black Art: Estate of Thornton Dial and Kevin Beasley Join New Galleries, Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley Collaborate with American Express, Smithsonian Launches Searchable Museum & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture THORNTON DIAL, “History Refused to Die,” 2004 (okra stalks and roots, clothing, collages drawings, tin, wire, steel, Masonite, steel chain, enamel, and spray paint, 102 x 87 x 23 inches). | © Estate of Thornton...
Museums Recognize Juneteenth: Newly Established National Holiday is ‘Celebration of Resilience, Freedom Deferred But Found’
FOR BLACK AMERICANS, transformational change has always been on the horizon, just out of reach. Long after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation with an effective date of Jan. 1, 1863, and the Civil War ended two-and-a-half years later in April 1965, it was another two months before Union troops arrived in Galveston,...
Kevin Young Will Lead Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
THE SMITHSONIAN’S BLACK MUSEUM has a new leader. Kevin Young has been named director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. Young is currently director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. He also serves as poetry editor at The New Yorker. He...
Aug. 28: Smithsonian is Marking March on Washington Anniversary With Film Dedicated to Pivotal Day in Black History
TO MARK THE 57TH ANNIVERSARY of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is making its grand opening film, “August 28: A Day in the Life of a People,” available online, free to public for 24 hours, beginning tomorrow morning. “Aug. 28”...
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch: ‘Protest is the Highest Form of Patriotism, You Are Trying to Make a Country Better’
THIS IS NOT NEW, unfortunately. America has been killing black people in one form or another since the nation’s founding. From lynching to murder by police, the history is well-documented and contextualized in the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), most poignantly with the display of Emmett Till’s casket. Till was...
Four Foundations Acquired Johnson Publishing Archive for $30 Million on Behalf of Getty Research Institute and Smithsonian’s African American Museum
THE HISTORIC ARCHIVE of Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) was sold to a consortium of four foundations—the Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for $30 million. The purchase was made through an auction process that commenced July 17 and concluded yesterday. The final sale is...
Latest News in African American Art: Curators Named for First-Ever Tennessee Triennial, Kehinde Wiley Sculpture in Times Square, Arthur Ashe Boulevard Dedicated in Richmond & More
The following review presents a snapshot of the recent news in African American art and related black culture: Lauren Haynes and Teka Selman Named Co-Curators for Inaugural Tennessee Triennial A new triennial launching in Tennessee in 2021 will be co-organized by Lauren Haynes, curator of contemporary art at the Crystal Bridges Museum of...
Veteran Museum Director Spencer Crew is Serving as Interim Head of Smithsonian African American Museum
THE SMITHSONIAN’S black history museum has been entrusted to Spencer R. Crew, a curator, scholar, and veteran museum director. In the wake of Lonnie Bunch’s appointment as secretary of the entire Smithsonian Institution, the founding director of the National Museum of African America History and Culture (NMAAHC) tapped Crew, 60, as his temporary replacement....
Lonnie Bunch is Taking Over the Smithsonian Institution. Named Secretary, He Will Lead 19 Museums and National Zoo
Smithsonian Secretary-elect Lonnie G. Bunch III THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION’S Board of Regents launched a search for a new leader in December and found the ideal candidate was already in its midst. This morning, the Smithsonian announced the election of Lonnie G. Bunch III, who will serve as the 14th Secretary. Bunch is the founding...
Early Photograph of Harriet Tubman Displayed Publicly for First Time at Smithsonian African American Museum
A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN photograph of Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913) depicts her seated with her arm draped over the back of a chair. Impeccably dressed, she wears a full skirt and buttoned bodice with detailed stitching on the sleeves. Believed to be the earliest image of Tubman in existence, the portrait of the storied abolitionist...
Latest News: Police Brutality Exhibition Remains on Pause, 1-54 African Art Fair Heads to Manhattan, Artist Warrington Colescott Has Died & More
Sept. 18: After putting her exhibition “America Monuments” on hold, artist lauren woods explains why the action is necessary. | Video by Daily 49er The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: NEWS After four years in Brooklyn,...
Sept. 23-24: Smithsonian’s African American Museum is Marking First Anniversary with Weekend of Special Events
ONE YEAR AFTER ITS LONG-AWAITED DEBUT, overwhelming interest in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) hasn’t waned. The museum dedicated to the contributions and experiences of black Americans opened Sept. 24, 2016, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Often referred to as the “Blacksonian,” the museum turns one...
Coming Soon: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Smithsonian’s African American Museum
From left, architects Phil Freelon and David Adjaye discuss the design for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine WASHINGTON, D.C. — The countdown is officially underway. Two months from today, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will celebrate its grand opening...
Sneak Peak: Smithsonian Curators Preview New African American Museum
A CENTURY IN THE MAKING, when the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) opens on Sept. 24, a major section of the fourth floor will be devoted to visual art. Exhibitions throughout the rest of the museum will examine in depth the experiences of African Americans, stories central to the...
61 Photos of Sea Island Slave Descendants Donated to Smithsonian
BANK OF AMERICA dontated 61 photos of a small community of slave descendants living on a South Carolina sea island to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) this week. According to an AP report published in the Washington Post, the photographs by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe were taken between 1977 and...
