The Index of African American Artists

Jasmine Liu wrote about the Index of African American Artists, a log of all the Black artists who have appeared in the Met Library’s digital catalog named Watsonline:

“We do hope that it will encourage and make this material accessible, and expand people’s awareness that this exists,” [Jared] Ash says. The Index hasn’t been widely publicized for pandemic-related reasons, but Ash expects for more people to utilize the tool in coming months as restrictions relax.

And more from the official website:

In July 2020, Watson Library launched a large-scale initiative to assess and enhance our holdings by and about African American artists and art, with the goal of becoming a greater center of research in this area. Watson staff and volunteers have conducted bibliographic analyses of over 500 individual artists to date, comparing publications in existence with publications held by Watson and/or other Met libraries. We have identified, located, and acquired over 400 titles to enhance the collection through purchase or donation, and have a growing list of works that we will continue to seek out for acquisition.

In sharing this index, we hope that in addition to facilitating awareness, discoverability, and wider use of Watson’s collection, scholars, specialists, curators, collectors, gallery owners, and artists themselves will easily identify and notify us of significant omissions and missing titles.

(via Hyperallergic)

Become a Patron

Since 2015, the site has remained mostly ad-free. I post affiliate links from time-to-time but I try to post alternative links where appropriate. I also write most of these blogs myself. If you read this and enjoyed the content you've so far, why not consider pledging to my Patreon.

Tiers

  • Brick – $1/month
  • Concrete – $3/month
  • Steel – $5/month
  • Glass – $7/month
  • Bronze – $10/month

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.