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...
The Smithsonian is Mounting a Bill Traylor Retrospective, the First Major Exhibition Devoted to an Artist Born Enslaved
THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM (SAAM) says it is mounting the first-ever major exhibition devoted to the work of an artist born enslaved. “Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor,” the retrospective of self-taught African American artist Bill Traylor (1854- 1949) will open Sept. 28, 2018. The Washington, D.C., museum made the announcement in...
Portrait of an Artist: Baltimore-based Amy Sherald Wins Smithsonian’s Outwin Boochever Competition
EXPLORING RACE, REPRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE, there is a certain something about the portraits painted by Baltimore artist Amy Sherald. Painted in grayscale, the bodies of her subjects are absent of color. Everything else in the large-scale fantastical portraits of African Americans—their distinctive clothing and the background against which they are set—celebrates color. The Smithsonian...
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...
Romare Bearden’s ‘Black Odyssey’ Headed to Columbia University
CELEBRATED FOR HIS RICH, LAYERED DEPICTIONS of African American life and culture, Romare Bearden’s decision to produce 20 collages based on episodes of Homer’s “The Odyssey” was widely viewed as a departure from his practice. Citing themes familiar to the African American experience—mourning, wandering and questing for home—scholar Robert O’Meally argues that the 1977...
The Week in Black Art | May 24-30, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Johnetta B. Cole, Andres Serrano, Chris Ofili, Kara Walker, Jacolby Satterwhite, Hank Willis Thomas and more ANDRES SERRANO is bringing the city’s homeless population to the attention of New Yorkers with a new photography project (video above). Using a large-format camera,...
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...
