Category: Quick Art History Reads

Valerie Mercer – Curator

Valerie Mercer's curatorial work shines a light on Detroit's black art history for the world to see and experience.

Loïs Mailou Jones's work was abstract and hard-edged and her impressionist techniques gave way to a richly patterned and brilliantly colored style. She produced work that echoed her pride in her African roots and American ancestry. **** In a career spanning more than 70 years, Loïs Mailou Jones overcame racial and gender prejudices to become a successful and influential painter, designer, and educator.*

Thelma Golden – Director & Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem

Thelma Golden is Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, the world’s leading institution devoted to visual art by artists of African descent. Over the years, she has worked with, hired and nurtured curators who have gone on to shape institutions all over the country.

Sylvia Williams – Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art

Sylvia Williams directed installation of five inaugural exhibitions and more than 20 other exhibitions of traditional and modern art, including sculpture, photography, textiles and utilitarian objects. Under her direction, the museum acquired 845 works of art.*