Scholars & Museum Professionals
The themes, content, and format of the exhibition were developed in consultation with an interdisciplinary group of established and emerging scholars and museum professionals, NU faculty and graduate students, connected by their investigations of American art, visual culture, and African Americans’ production and representation within these fields. Their collaboration was anchored by two convenings held over 2018-2019.
- Sampada Aranke, Assistant Professor, Art History, Theory & Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- La Tanya S. Autry, Ph.D. candidate, Art History, University of Delaware, Cultural Organizer and Independent Curator, Black Liberation Center
- Courtney Baker, Associate Professor of American Studies and Black Studies, Occidental College
- Elisabeth Callihan, Head of Multi-Generational Learning, Minneapolis Institute of Art (M.I.A.) and co-founder of MASS Action (Museums as Sites for Social Action);
- Bridget R. Cooks, Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of Art History, University of California, Irvine
- Leslie Harris, Professor, Department of History, Northwestern University
- Ross Jordan, Curatorial Manager, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
- Noémi Michel, Visiting Scholar, Department of African American Studies, Northwestern University and Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Geneva
- Valerie Cassel Oliver, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Kymberly Pinder, Ph.D., Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Massachusetts College of Art and Design; ( incoming Dean, School of Art, Yale University)
- Maurita Poole, Ph.D., Director, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries
- Veronica Roberts, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin
- Nicole Soukup, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, M.I.A.
- Shawn Michelle Smith, Professor, Visual and Critical Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Lorelei Stewart, Director, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago
- LaCharles Ward, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Media at Risk, University of Pennsylvania
- Mlondolozi Zondi, Ph.D. Candidate, Performance Studies, Northwestern University
Community Advisors
Advised by Northwestern’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations The Block has embarked on a series of dialogues which solicit input from diverse community stakeholders to shape visitor experience; co-develop collaborative programming on issues of racial injustice; and build trust for continued engagement.
- Dino Robinson, Founder, Shorefront Legacy Center, Facilitator
- Tiffany McDowell and LeAnn Jenkins, YWCA Evanston/Northshore’s Equity Institute, Facilitators
- Melissa Blount, artist/activist/psychotherapist- Black Lives Matter Witness Quilt project/ M.E.E.T( Making Evanston Equitable Together)
- Fran Joy, artist
- Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors, President Evanston N.A.A.C.P/ Pastor Second Baptist Church
- Nathan Norman, Youth and Young Adult Program Supervisor, City of Evanston
- Rebeca Mendoza, District 65 School Board, Evanston Latinos
- Robin Rue Simmons, former Evanston 5thWard Alderman, National African American Reparations Commission
- Corey Winchester, teacher, Evanston Township High School, advisor S.O.A.R.( Students Organized Against Racism)
- Angela Williams, Evanston Arts Council, Director of Design and Exhibit Development Museum of Science and Industry
Related Exhibitions
January 26 - July 10, 2022A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence