Blogs

Curator's Corner

Autumn is Certainly Here

Monday, September 28, 2026 | Karl Cole

Raise your hand if autumn is your favorite season. My hand is raised. There are so many different interpretations of this season in art history. Rather than show trees changing color, I’m showin ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978 US)

Tuesday, September 22, 2026 | Karl Cole

Alma Woodsey Thomas was a pioneering African American abstract painter and art educator. Any art historian who is a nut about color as I am certainly knows her work! ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month: Joseph Yoakum (1890-1972 US)

Monday, February 23, 2026 | Karl Cole

Self-taught artists are often well into their middle age when they begin to take up their artistic practice. Having reached their middle years, many of them bring to their work valuable practical know ...

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Curator's Corner

African American History Month: James Van Der Zee (1886-1983 US)

Monday, February 16, 2026 | Karl Cole

The term “Harlem Renaissance” indicates the period between ca. 1918 and 1930 when the Harlem neighborhood of New York experienced a flourishing of African American art, music, and culture. ...

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Curator's Corner

Celebrating African American History Month 2026: Anna Williams

Monday, February 9, 2026 | Karl Cole

The history of African American artists goes back to the earliest days of the US. There are numerous art forms that can trace their lineage back to the African ancestors of African Americans, who carr ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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. ...

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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 ...

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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. ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Blogs

African American art

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Autumn is Certainly Here

Artist Birthday: Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978 US)

African American History Month: Joseph Yoakum (1890-1972 US)

African American History Month: James Van Der Zee (1886-1983 US)

Celebrating African American History Month 2026: Anna Williams

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

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Always Stay in the Loop