SAAM is home to one of the largest collections of work made by African American artists in the world. Join artist and scholar Allan deSouza, art adviser Schwanda Rountree, scholar Melanee Harvey, and DC-based art collectors Mel and Juanita Hardy for a panel discussion highlighting important works by African American artists from our collection. About the Speakers:
Allan deSouza is a photographer, mixed media artist, and associate professor in the Department of Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley. His work restages colonial-era material legacies through humor and (mis)translation. DeSouza’s recent publication How Art Can Be Thought challenges interpretive norms in art. Schwanda Rountree is an attorney and independent art consultant based in Washington, DC. She currently serves as Collections Committee Member of the Ackland Art Museum and Professional Arts Consultant for the Joan Mitchell Foundation. She has also served as Advisory Panel Member of CulturalDC and for the 30 Americans exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2011.
Mel and Juanita Hardy are avid art collectors with a particular interest in works by African American artists. They founded the DC-based organization Millennium Arts Salon in 2000. This organization is committed to “advancing cultural literacy” through its art and cultural programming, which includes salon talks, exhibitions, tours, and special events. Melanee C. Harvey is an assistant professor of art history at Howard University. Since 2016, she has served as programming coordinator for the James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art and Art of the African Diaspora at Howard University. Harvey has published extensively on Black Arts Movement artists and is currently working on her book titled, Patterns of Permanence: African Methodist Episcopal Architecture and Visual Culture.
Credit: This program is part of an annual series at SAAM titled A Closer Look. Support for the series comes from the Thelma and Melvin Lenkin Education Endowment. Image Credit: William H. Johnson, Art Class, ca. 1939- 1940, oil on plywood, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.579 |