Latest News in Black Art: New Weeksville CEO, Cranbrook Academy Investing $30 Million Gift in Student Diversity, Major Acquisitions at PAFA, Morgan Library, and High Museum
The following is a snapshot of the latest news in Black art: Raymond Codrington. | Courtesy Weeksville Heritage Center Appointments Brooklyn’s Weeksville Heritage Center Names New CEO Raymond Codrington is joining Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn as CEO. The news was announced April 6. A cultural anthropologist, Codrington has served as...
Eunice Bélidor Joins Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Curator of Contemporary Art is First Black Curator in Institution’s History
THE MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (MMFA) has hired a new curator. Eunice Bélidor is joining the museum as the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator of Quebec and Canadian Contemporary Art (1945 to Today). The news was announced April 7. The appointment is historic. Bélidor is the first Black full-time curator at the...
Whitney Museum in New York Promotes Adrienne Edwards From Curator of Performance to Director of Curatorial Affairs
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART announced the promotion of Adrienne Edwards today, she has been named director of curatorial affairs. For the past three years, Edwards has served as the Engell Speyer Curator and Curator of Performance at the Whitney. In her new role as Engell Speyer Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, Edwards...
Rhea L. Combs Named Director of Curatorial Affairs at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (NPG) in Washington, D.C., announced a new appointment today. Rhea L. Combs is joining the Smithsonian museum as director of curatorial affairs. Leading the curatorial and conservation teams and working closely with the history and audience engagement departments, Combs will oversee NPG’s exhibitions, acquisitions, and collection. She will also be...
Nicole R. Fleetwood Wins National Book Critics Circle Award for ‘Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration’
IN THE CATEGORY OF CRITICISM, Nicole R. Fleetwood won the National Book Critics Circle Award for
Greenville County Museum of Art in South Carolina Sells Alma Thomas Painting to Anonymous Buyer for $2.8 Million
THE GREENVILLE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (GCMA) in Greenville, S.C., sold “Alma’s Flower Garden” (circa 1968) for $2.8 million to an anonymous buyer. The museum confirmed the sale to The Greenville News and USA Today Network last week. The museum’s board voted unanimously on Oct. 21, 2020, granting approval to deaccession one work of...
The Week in Black Art, March 29-April 4, 2021: Artist Winfred Rembert Has Died, Curator Danielle A. Jackson is Going to Artists Space, Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle Appointed Online Director at Pace Gallery
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Surviving a Lynching | Ashes to Ashes: An award-winning, short documentary made in 2019, considers artist Winfred Rembert’s traumatic experiences in the Jim Crow South, a narrative that reflects America’s dark history with racism and injustice. | Video...
Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Key Works by African American Artists Amy Sherald, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Wadsworth Jarrell, and D’Angelo Lovell Williams
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (CMA) is presenting “Women Now” in spring 2022. The forthcoming exhibition will focus on contemporary women printmakers, including Amy Sherald. “Handsome” (2020), her first-ever print, will be featured in the show. Recently added to the museum’s collection, the limited-edition screenprint is based on Sherald’s 2019 painting of Jamar Roberts,...
Damon Reaves is Joining Washington’s National Gallery of Art as Head of Education
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (NGA) has appointed Damon Reaves head of education. An experienced educator in museum and classroom settings, Reaves brings more than a dozen years of experience to the position. He joins the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) where he has been on staff since...
The Week in Black Art, March 22-28, 2021: Smithsonian Hiring 6 New Museum Directors, Veronica Ryan Now Represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, Gary Simmons Joins Hauser & Wirth
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Portrait of Gary Simmons. | Photo by Tito Molina, HRDWRKER March 25, 2021 Smithsonian Hiring 6 New Museum Directors For the first time in its history, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is searching for directors...
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Has Hired Eric L. Motley as Deputy Director
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (NGA) is adding to its executive ranks. Today, the museum announced the appointment of Eric L. Motley as deputy director, a critical role focused on driving the institution’s mission, building awareness and support for its programing, and expanding and better serving its audiences. He officially starts at NGA on Aug....
Jenkins Johnson Gallery Announced its Representation of New Jersey-Based Painter Philemona Williamson
Philemona Williamson at Montclair Art Museum. | Courtesy Jenkins Johnson Gallery JENKINS JOHNSON GALLERY now represents Philemona Williamson. The New Jersey-based artist makes narrative paintings that capture poetic, dream-like moments that elicit multiple interpretations. The timeless, invented scenes reflect childhood and adolescent experiences and explore the nature of innocence, vulnerability, and strength through the...
Fresh From Studio Museum Residency, Naudline Pierre Joins James Cohan Gallery
“Lest You Fall” (2019) by Naudline Pierre JAMES COHAN GALLERY in New York announced its representation of Naudline Pierre today. Brooklyn-based Pierre makes figurative paintings and drawings suffused with enchanting color. Her images of fantastic and imagined worlds are populated with recurring characters who hold, carry, watch, and hover over a protagonist who serves...
The Week in Black Art, March 15-21, 2021: Art Institute of Chicago Hires New Education Director, New Orleans Museum Acquires Wangechi Mutu Sculpture, Major Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Painting Headed to Auction
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Ashley Harris is heading up marketing at Mana Culture. | Photo by Angela Pham March 20, 2021 Ashley Harris Joins Mana Culture Ashley Harris was appointed head of marketing, Arts and Culture for Mana Culture based...
Lauren Haynes Named Senior Curator at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art
THE NASHER MUSEUM OF ART at Duke University announced the appointment of Lauren Haynes this morning. She is joining the museum as Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. The Nasher Museum in Durham, N.C., has been a leader in the field, showcasing a spectrum of emerging and overlooked artists,...
The Week in Black Art, March 8-14, 2021: Deana Haggag Departs United States Artists to Join Mellon Foundation, Mariane Ibrahim Opening Paris Gallery
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Deana Haggag. Photo by Braxton Black March 12, 2021 Deana Haggag is Joining the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation After serving as president and CEO of United States Artists (USA) for four years, Deana Haggag has accepted...
New Orleans-Based Artist and Filmmaker Garrett Bradley is Now Exclusively Represented by Lisson Gallery
Artist and Filmmaker Garrett Bradley. | Courtesy Lisson Gallery LISSON GALLERY of London, New York, and Shanghai announced its worldwide representation of Garrett Bradley on March 5. In her bio, the artist and filmmaker states that she “works across narrative, documentary, and experimental modes of filmmaking to address themes such as race, class, familial...
The Week in Black Art, March 1-7, 2021: Two Museums Will Acquire Amy Sherald’s Portrait of Breonna Taylor, Text From Obama Speech Will Grace Facade of Presidential Museum
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week AMY SHERALD (b. 1973), “Breonna Taylor,” 2020 (oil on linen, 137.2 x 109.2 cm / 54 x 43 inches). | © Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo by Joseph Hyde March 7, 2021...
College Art Association 2021 Awards Honor Samella Lewis, Deborah Willis, Nicole R. Fleetwood, Simone Leigh, Charles L. Davis II, and Maren Hassinger
From left, Nicole R. Fleetwood and Samella Lewis AN INTERGENERATIONAL SLATE of artists and scholars was recognized by the College Art Association (CAA) with 2021 Awards for Distinction. In previous years, one or a few of the honorees have been Black. This year, there were several. Recipients of the juried awards included Samella Lewis,...
The Week in Black Art, February 22-28, 2021: Precious Okoyomon Wins Frieze Artist Award, Honor Titus Now Repped by Timothy Taylor Gallery
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week PRECIOUS OKOYOMON, Installation view of “A Drop of Sun Under The Earth,” at the LUMA Westbau, Zurich, 2019. | Courtesy the artist, the LUMA Westbau, and Quinn Harrelson / Current Projects. Photo by Nelly Rodriguez Feb. 27,...
