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Black Visual Arts Research(er)
The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) received funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation to support a two-year residential research fellowship in Chicago to amplify Black visual arts collections at BMRC member institutions and to support the creation of artwork and arts scholarship rooted in exploration of Black visual arts and related archival collections.
In service of these goals, the researcher in Black visual arts is surveying extant Black visual arts collections at BMRC member institutions, convening with art scholars, curators and archivists with experience working with Black visual arts collections, developing research resources that aid in discovery and use of these collections, and assisting the BMRC in targeted outreach to artists who could engage Black archival and historical collections in their practice.
In the second year of the fellowship, the researcher will develop a project that activates the Black visual arts collections at BMRC member institutions.
In November 2024, the BMRC welcomed Rashieda Witter as its Black Visual Arts Researcher. You can learn more about Rashieda here.
Information on Rashieda's research notes, projects, and programs can be found on this page. Feel free to reach out with questions & comments at rashieda@uchicago.edu.
Black Creative Genius
Graphic for Black Creative Genius, designed by Jeffrey Hitchens Design. Inspired by the work of Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. and the aesthetics of AfriCOBRA
We’re thrilled to partner with Badir McCleary from @artabovereality on Black Creative Genius in Chicago, a powerful new series of video essays that bring the city’s Black art history to the present.
Drawing from the rich archives of BMRC member institutions, each video (re)introduces the visionary minds who shaped Chicago’s vibrant cultural legacy. The first video drops Monday, August 18 on all BMRC social platforms. Stay tuned!
Acknowledgements:
✍🏾 Written & produced by @_rashieda
🎙️ Narrated & edited by @artabovereality
🎨 Graphic design by @jhitchensdesign
Exhibitions
Promotional flyer for the exhibition, designed by Rashieda Witter
Celebrating Robert A. "Bobby" Sengstacke’s decades-long work documenting Chicago’s Black community, it highlights his deep compassion and commitment to authentic storytelling. Through his lens, we witness Black people seeing and affirming one another, reclaiming their narratives beyond the white gaze and reimagining visibility in a racially stratified world.
Curated by Rashieda Witter, this exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Myiti Sengstacke-Rice, Chicago Defender Charities, UChicago’s Visual Resources Center and the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.