A new organization is working to safeguard the artistic legacies of Detroit’s Black artists while empowering the next generation of curators and creators.
The Black Artists Archive is a cultural preservation initiative founded by art historian and curator Dr. Kelli Morgan, who serves as the group’s executive director and CEO. Inspired by her career in art history, Morgan created the archive to collect, document and exhibit the contributions of Black artists in Detroit and the Midwest.
In collaboration with The Black Canon, the archive includes “Vinyl Legacies,” an archival project led by David Ellis to digitize over 12,000 records of Black music, and “Candid Cultures,” a virtual exhibition curated by Morgan, that showcases mid-century photos of Black performance, activism, and art in Detroit.
The organization is also partnering with Michael Cortor on “A Dialogue Among Friends,” which explores Eldzier Cortor’s work alongside fellow Black Chicago Renaissance figures like Gwendolyn Brooks and Charles White. Additionally, the organization is working to preserve the archive of Detroit’s Arts Extended Gallery Inc., a 72-year-old artist collective that is still active today.
The Archive is supported by three initiatives — the archive itself, the Black Curatorial Institute and the DUO Incubatory Residency.
American Black Journal host Stephen Henderson talks with Morgan about her career as an art historian and curator and her goal to create both a digital and physical repository for the Black Artists Archive.