Andrea Pippins Illustrated a New Kwanzaa Stamp, Offering a Contemporary Take on Traditional African American Holiday
WITH THE HOLIDAY SEASON fast approaching, the U.S. Postal Service issued a new Kwanzaa stamp featuring artwork by Andrea Pippins. The Forever stamp was dedicated on Oct. 13. Pippins offers a contemporary take on the traditional African American holiday established in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana studies. Working with a largely...
Sculptor Simone Leigh is Representing the United States at 2022 Venice Biennale
THE UNITED STATES will be represented by Simone Leigh at the 59th Venice Biennale. It’s a historic choice. Leigh is the first Black female artist ever selected to stage a solo exhibition in the American Pavilion at the prestigious international exhibition and she is the third African American artist in row chosen for the...
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Promotes Gwendolyn Perry Davis to Senior Director of Operations
THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO named a new senior director of operations. Gwendolyn Perry Davis has been elevated to the position, a critical leadership role overseeing both strategic and creative aspects of the museum’s operations. Perry Davis’s new responsibilities include the collections and exhibitions department and the human resources, information technology, facilities, and security...
Longtime Spelman Curator Andrea Barnwell Brownlee Named Director and CEO of Cummer Museum of Art in Jacksonville, Fla.
THE CUMMER MUSEUM OF ART & GARDENS announced the appointment of a new leader yesterday. Andrea Barnwell Brownlee is joining the Jacksonville, Fla., museum as George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and CEO. For two decades, Brownlee has been serving as director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta. She officially...
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Appoints Heidi Holder Chair of Education
EFFECTIVE THIS MONTH, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a new head of education. The New York City museum named Heidi Holder the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education. She previously served as director of education at the Queens Museum. News of Holder’s hiring was announced Sept. 18, alongside the appointment of...
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...
Fast-Rising Photographer Tyler Mitchell is Now Represented by Jack Shainman Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER Tyler Mitchell has joined Jack Shainman Gallery. Mitchell’s practice explores a new vision of the beauty and power of Blackness. Defined by a sense of optimism and aesthetic creativity, his images imagine a Black utopia. A closely watched talent, Mitchell experienced a meteoric rise in 2018 when he photographed Beyoncé for American...
Joining David Zwirner as Director, Ebony L. Haynes Will Launch New Gallery Space With All-Black Staff
THE LATEST HIRE at David Zwirner negotiated a sweet deal. Ebony L. Haynes is joining the gallery as a director and she is launching her own exhibition program in a new stand-alone space in Manhattan. Expected to open in spring 2021, the location of the gallery and inaugural exhibition will be announced in the coming...
Everything is Beautiful: Major Alma W. Thomas Traveling Exhibition Opening at Chrysler Museum of Art in July 2021
TOMORROW, SEPT. 22, would have been the 129th birthday of artist Alma Thomas (1891-1978). The announcement today of a major traveling exhibition co-organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., and the Columbus Museum in her hometown of Columbus, Ga., is a wonderful way to celebrate her life and legacy. “Alma W....
Kyla McMillan is Joining David Zwirner Gallery as Director Focused on Artist Management and Sales
DAVID ZWIRNER GALLERY has hired Kyla McMillan as a director. The gallery has locations in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong. McMillan will be based in Chelsea (New York) with a portfolio focused on artist management and sales. She begins at David Zwirner Oct. 15. The appointment was first reported today by ARTnews. “I...
Studio Museum in Harlem Selects 2020-2021 Artists in Residence: Widline Cadet, Genesis Jerez, Texas Isaiah, and Jacolby Satterwhite
FOUR NEW ARTISTS are receiving the imprimatur of the Studio Museum in Harlem. Widline Cadet, Genesis Jerez, Texas Isaiah, and Jacolby Satterwhite (above, clockwise from left) have been selected for the museum’s Artist-in-Residence program, a prestigious opportunity that has served as a launching pad for some of today’s most highly regarded artists of African...
California African American Museum in Los Angeles Hired Two New Curators: Taylor Renee Aldridge and Susan D. Anderson
Taylor Renee Aldridge joined CAAM as visual arts curator. | Photo by Paper Monday IN LOS ANGELES, the California African American Museum (CAAM) announced two key curatorial appointments. Detroit-based independent curator and writer Taylor Renee Aldridge is joining the museum as visual arts curator and program manager. Susan D. Anderson, a public historian...
New National Trust Grants Are Preserving African American History at 27 Sites Connected to Boston Artists, Architect Paul Williams, and Poet Lucille Clifton
NEW GRANTS ARE HELPING TO PRESERVE 27 U.S. sites dedicated to African American history. Sites connected to Boston artists; Los Angeles architect Paul Williams; and the historic homes performer and activist Paul Robeson, blues legend Muddy Waters, inventor Lewis Latimer, and poet Lucille Clifton, are among the beneficiaries. The support from the National Trust...
Historic Appointment: Sheila McDaniel is New Administrator at National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (NGA) announced a major appointment this week. Sheila McDaniel is joining the museum as administrator, leading teams critical to the museum’s operations: administrative support, architecture and capital improvement, facilities, horticulture, personnel, procurement, and security. Her appointment is historic. McDaniel is the first Black woman to hold an executive officer post...
National Gallery of Art’s First Painting By a Native American Artist Speaks to Race, Rage, and Problematic Name of Local NFL Team
THE PERMANENT COLLECTION of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) includes more than 150,000 objects—paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, prints, drawings, and photographs. Only 25 of them are by Native American artists, including Jaune Quick-to-See Smith‘s “I See Red: Target” (1992), the first painting by a Native American artist to enter the collection, which was...
Toyin Ojih Odutola Calls Her Portrait of Zadie Smith a ‘Love Letter to Black Britain’
THE MUTUAL ADMIRATION between storytellers Zadie Smith and Toyin Ojih Odutola is palpable. The British novelist has written about the Nigerian-born visual artist’s work for British Vogue and contributed an essay to her forthcoming catalog, “Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory,” which will accompany a show at the Barbican Centre in London, the artist’s...
Black Women Leaders Appointed to New Roles at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Skirball Cultural Center and Lucas Museum in Los Angeles
MUSEUM OPERATIONS CONTINUE TO CHURN as institutions navigate months of challenges resulting from COVID-19. Museums are facing budget constraints in the wake of the virus. At the same time, several are dealing with accusations of racism from staff and former staff. Many remain temporarily closed and others are joining a wave of re-openings. Three...
United States Artists is Recognizing Visionary Gallerist and Activist Linda Goode Bryant with 2020 Berresford Prize
In 1974, Linda Goode Bryant founded Just Above Midtown gallery in New York City. | Photo by Oresti Tsonopoulos THE FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR of Just Above Midtown (JAM), Linda Goode Bryant “has had a massive effect on the trajectory of countless artists and has changed the course of art history in the process.” For...
Charly Palmer is Latest Artist Tapped to Illustrate Cover of Time Magazine, Providing Image for ‘America Must Change’ Issue
MAINSTREAM INSTITUTIONS have responded in a variety of ways to the nationwide focus on race, racial justice, and policing. Time magazine’s reaction has been to pair its news coverage of the unfolding events with covers by African American artists. Charly Palmer is the latest tapped for the assignment. In the wake of protests following...
Art for Change: Simone Leigh Produced a New Limited-Edition Sculpture, Proceeds Benefit Color of Change
ARTISTS AND GALLERIES have been donating portions of art sales, participating in charitable auctions, and producing special limited-editions to benefit artists and a variety of nonprofits since late March. The efforts began to take root in response to economic and opportunity challenges that arose due to COVID-19 shutdowns and were amplified in late May...
