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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Chris (DAZE) Ellis

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 | Karl Cole

Chris (DAZE) Ellis was part of the earliest group of American street artists to successfully transition to a career painting on canvas. He is also part of the generation of street artists who help ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Larry Walker

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 | Karl Cole

Larry Walker was born in Georgia but raised from one year of age in Harlem, New York, in the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance. A consummate abstractionist, he also devoted his life to art edu ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Moe Brooker

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

Moe Brooker was one of several African American artists who championed a spiritual type of abstraction as an important contribution to contemporary African American and American art. ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Alvin Loving, Jr

Friday, September 19, 2025 | Karl Cole

Alvin Loving, Jr, was from the generation of African American artists who succeeded the Harlem Renaissance artists of the 1920s and 1930s. His generation struggled with questions of what subject m ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Richard Hunt

Friday, September 12, 2025 | Karl Cole

Born in Chicago, Richard Hunt became what is considered to have been the foremost abstract African American sculptor of the 20th century. ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Betye Saar

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 | Karl Cole

The unique assemblages of Betye Saar helped elevate the medium to fine art status when she began producing them in the late 1960s. Her works explore her African American identity, her African heritage ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Edmonia Lewis

Monday, July 7, 2025 | Karl Cole

Edmonia Lewis was a pioneering African American and woman artist, at a time when it was difficult for either to get an arts education. Lewis skillfully learned the style that was dear to American patr ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Barbara Chase-Riboud

Thursday, June 26, 2025 | Karl Cole

The tradition of African American women sculptors goes all the way back to the 1800s with Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907), continues through the Harlem Renaissance in the person of Augusta Savage (189 ...

Curator's Corner

National Skilled Trades Day: Jacob Lawrence

Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | Karl Cole

National Skilled Trades Day was established in 2019 by the National Day Calendar and City Machine Technologies, Inc. Skilled workers are employed in a variety of fields and positions that can be perso ...

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Elizabeth Catlett

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | Karl Cole

Elizabeth Catlett’s body of work as an artist was predominantly intended to connect with and honor achievements of African Americans, particularly women. Her works about women such as this army ...

Curator's Corner

National Library Week: Jacob Lawrence

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 | Karl Cole

Established in 1958, National Library Week has been sponsored by the American Library Association. It now has international recognition. National Library Week was started to encourage the support and ...

Curator's Corner

Black History Month: Cey Adams

Monday, February 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

Throughout the history of the United States, African American artists have been pioneers in many artistic movement. Since the Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920s–1930s), many Black American ...

Curator's Corner

Black History Month: Ali and Chase-Riboud

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | Karl Cole

The Curator’s Corner celebration of Black History Month continues with two contemporary artists whose personal visions are broadly different, but fascinating nonetheless—Laylah Ali and Bar ...

Curator's Corner

Black History Month: Woodruff, Lewis, Jennings

Monday, February 10, 2025 | Karl Cole

My celebration of Black History Month continues with three more artists who are very important in the history of art—Hale Woodruff, Norman Lewis, and Wilmer Jennings. They represent the divergen ...

Curator's Corner

Black History Month: Herring, Tolliver, Middleton

Monday, February 3, 2025 | Karl Cole

I’m kicking off National Black History Month with artists I find fascinating. Their styles are extraordinary, and their names are probably not on the tips of every art historian’s tongue&m ...

Curator's Corner

Emancipated Artist: Moses Williams

Monday, June 17, 2024 | Karl Cole

In honor of Juneteenth this week, I present an earlier experience of emancipation—that of artist Moses Williams. When he was 9 years old, Williams’s parents were emancipated. At the time, ...

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African American art

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Artist Birthday: Chris (DAZE) Ellis

Artist Birthday: Larry Walker

Artist Birthday: Moe Brooker

Artist Birthday: Alvin Loving, Jr

Artist Birthday: Richard Hunt

Artist Birthday: Betye Saar

Artist Birthday: Edmonia Lewis

Artist Birthday: Barbara Chase-Riboud

National Skilled Trades Day: Jacob Lawrence

Artist Birthday: Elizabeth Catlett

National Library Week: Jacob Lawrence

Black History Month: Cey Adams

Black History Month: Ali and Chase-Riboud

Black History Month: Woodruff, Lewis, Jennings

Black History Month: Herring, Tolliver, Middleton

Emancipated Artist: Moses Williams

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