Collections
Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Every Moment Counts (Ecstatic Antibodies), 1989. C-Type archival print, 20 x 24 in. Collection of Art Galleries at Black Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase, 2024.009. Courtesy of Autograph, London © Rotimi Fani-Kayode
Art Galleries at Black Studies at The University of Texas at Austin (AGBS) is an academic resource of The University of Texas at Austin and the sole on-campus repository of materials relating to Africa and the African Diaspora. It stewards Black Studies’ permanent collection of nearly 1,300 art objects and artifacts in collaboration with Black Diaspora Archives (BDA). The mission of AGBS in concert with BDA is to make the University’s collections reflect the rich contributions and experiences of people of African descent.
The strengths of the permanent collection include modern and contemporary African and African Diaspora works on paper, including prints, photographs, drawings, artists' books and portfolios, paintings and sculpture, all of which enhance ongoing programs of study at UT Austin.
AGBS views its collection, in part, as an educational resource. As such, original art objects and artifacts serve a variety of pedagogical objectives, which include the following:
to inspire creative and analytical work across the academic disciplines;
to teach, through first-hand study, strategies, and techniques of artistic creation and production;
to teach about historical and contemporary cultures;
to teach museology through the direct practice of museum display and interpretation;
to make art objects available to scholars, museums, and educational institutions for purposes of exhibition, research, or education;
to reflect the research interest of faculty.
MEET THE TEAM
Cherise Smith, PhD
Executive Founding Director
Phillip Townsend, PhD
Curator of Art
Kaila Schedeen, PhD
Exhibition and Collections Manager
Joy Scanlon, MFA
Gallery Manager
Ariel Evans, PhD
Contemporary Art Research Fellow
Ilyana Jones
Gallery Educator
Pierce Cedillo
Gallery Assistant
Learn more about our MINDPOP Pathways for Arts Leadership Internships
AGBS champions art by makers whose
practices engage the Black experience.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the Indigenous lands of Turtle Island, the ancestral name for what now is called North America.
Moreover, we would like to acknowledge the Alabama-Coushatta, Caddo, Carrizo/Comecrudo, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Kickapoo, Lipan Apache, Tonkawa and Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, and all the American Indian and Indigenous Peoples and communities who have been or have become a part of these lands and territories in Texas.
These statements were created by the Committee on Land Acknowledgment in the Program in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at The University of Texas at Austin.
“Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth.”
—From “Honor Native Land: A Call and Guide to Acknowledgment.” U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. https://usdac.us/nativeland.)
AGBS stands with and in support of all Indigenous students, faculty, and staff at The University of Texas at Austin. We are grateful to be able to work, study, and learn on this piece of Turtle Island.