Join Dr. Earnestine Jenkins for a presentation about her recently published book Black Artists in America, From the Great Depression to Civil Rights. She will share images from her book to narrate a visual journey, that explores the artists, discussing how they expressed and documented the social issues and the black experience in their time.
Dr. Earnestine Lovelle Jenkins is an Art History Professor at the University of Memphis, where her scholarship focuses on the visual cultural history of the African Diaspora. Dr. Jenkins was named among the top five Black women to know in the art world by Forbes magazine (October 2020). She is a scholar of art history and visual studies and a curious researcher who enjoys finding stories that have not been told. Dr. Jenkins has authored and published eight books including Black Artists in America, which explores America’s history through the lens of Black artists, between the 1930s-1950s. The exhibition featured subject content in a way that African Americans view images in which they recognize themselves. For example, the exhibition included many images of Black women and by Black women artists.
Black Artists in America was originally conceived as a catalog for the exhibition of the same name, which was curated by Dr. Jenkins. It is the first of three exhibitions and books planned at the Dixon Galleries and Gardens in Memphis, TN. The second book is planned for release in 2023.
Dr. Jenkins earned a Ph.D. in History from Michigan State University, MA in Art History from the University of Memphis, and BFA in Painting with a minor in History from Spelman College. She is an impassioned educator and wants to build support for scholarly arts education, particularly in the growing area of African American and African Diaspora art histories.
In collaboration with Cary Library, Needham Public Library, Tewksbury Public Library. This program is made possible by the generous donors to the Cary Library Foundation.