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Black Visual Arts Research(er)
The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) is pleased to welcome Rashieda Witter as its Black Visual Arts Researcher. You can learn more about Rashieda here.
As the Black Visual Arts Researcher, Rashieda will survey and document Black visual arts archival records located in BMRC member collections, manage outreach activities to encourage the use of the materials by artists and creatives, and develop a public-facing independent project. You can keep up to date with Rashieda's research notes, projects, and programs on this page. Feel free to reach out with questions & comments at rashieda@uchicago.edu.
The BMRC Visual Arts Research position is supported by generous funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
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.