The Getty Foundation has announced $1.5 million in grants to seven libraries, museums, and universities across the United States as part of its ongoing Black Visual Arts Archives program. This year's recipients include the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, California State University Los Angeles, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University in Atlanta, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum in Washington D.C., and Visual AIDS in New York.
To support this year's projects, the Getty Foundation partnered with Dominique Luster, an archivist and consultant who specializes in Black archives. This new funding round brings the Getty's total investment in the initiative to $2.6 million, building on previous grants awarded in 2022 as part of a pilot program to the Anacostia, the Chicago Public Library, Fisk University in Nashville, the New York Public Library, and Temple University in Philadelphia.
The multi-year initiative aims to significantly increase access to archival collections, particularly those containing information about work created by Black artists. The program provides archivists with enhanced opportunities to organize, catalog, and digitize these materials while bringing together often difficult-to-research or disparate records, some of which may not yet have been processed. Grant application inquiries are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Emory University's grant will enable the institution to hire a dedicated processing archivist for three years to focus specifically on the work of photographer Jim Alexander. As part of the project, Alexander will also create an oral history to provide important context to his images and legacy. "We value the opportunity to help keep this revered Atlanta documentary photographer's collection an active resource for education, research, and community engagement," NKosi Oates, Emory's curator of African American collections, told ARTnews.
From the initial processing and digitization of archival records, several accompanying projects, including exhibitions and programming, have emerged from this research. The New York Public Library used Getty funds to create a digital zine that presents the history of art exhibitions curated by its library, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Meanwhile, Temple University has been developing a virtual reality game that simulates the process of archival research as players learn about historic exhibitions organized by the Pyramid Club, which was once Philadelphia's only Black-owned art gallery and social club.
Presentations of the results from the program's first iteration will be showcased during the annual Society of American Archivists conference in Anaheim, California, running from August 24-27. The Getty's commitment to funding the Black Visual Arts Archives program comes at a time when such initiatives have faced challenges from the current presidential administration.
This program represents one of several efforts initiated by the Getty that supports Black cultural heritage, including Conserving Black Modernism, African American Historic Places Los Angeles, African American Art History Initiative, and its joint acquisition of the archive of 20th-century architect Paul R. Williams. "We need a fuller understanding of the influence of Black artists, architects, and cultural institutions to tell a more complete history of American art and culture, and we can work towards achieving this by investing in Black archives," said Miguel de Baca, senior program officer at the Getty Foundation.
"Black Visual Arts Archives delivers critical support to make these archives and the stories of creativity, resiliency, and community they hold more accessible to researchers and the general public," de Baca added in his statement. The initiative continues to strengthen efforts to preserve and promote Black cultural heritage while ensuring these important historical materials remain available for future generations of scholars and community members.
