We are delighted to announce the development of a new visual arts organization in the DC metro area.
artconnexDC is a collective of diverse women-identifying and non-binary visual arts professionals. We are dedicated to fostering kinship and enhancing the vibrant DC metro arts ecosystem. artconnexDC offers a network to share information, encourage dialogue, and provide multigenerational opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.
CURATOR TOUR
SPIRIT & STRENGTH: MODERN ART FROM HAITI
at the National Gallery of Art
Join National Gallery of Art curator Kanitra Fletcher for an in-person tour of the exhibition Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti
Wednesday December 11, 2024
10:00 am
Meet: in lobby inside the 4th Street Entrance
East Building, National Gallery of Art
Art flourished in Haiti—the world’s first Black republic—in the mid-1900s. Painters like Hector Hyppolite, Rigaud Benoît, and Philomé Obin were known around the world for their images of Haitian daily life, religious traditions, and history. Their works influenced generations of African American artists. Several, including Lois Mailou Jones and Eldzier Cortor, traveled to and worked in Haiti.
Spirit & Strength is the first chance to see 21 works by Haitian artists recently given to the National Gallery. Get an introduction to Haitian modern art and experience the remarkable creations of some of the most prominent artists in Haiti’s history alongside works by artists building upon their legacy today. Through its art, understand Haiti’s significant yet underrecognized importance in the culture of the African Diaspora.
This event has limited capacity. To get on the waitlist click here.
For additional information about the exhibition and related programming see:
https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2024/modern-art-haiti.html
Andre Pierre, Mambo, early 1960s, oil on fiberboard, National Gallery of Art, Gift of Kay and Roderick HellerJoin us after the tour for coffee at the espresso bar on the concourse (by the Cascade Café). All are welcome, no need to decide in advance.
Kanitra Fletcher is the Associate Curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic Art, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Art. Fletcher is responsible for guiding the museum's collection of African American art.
Prior to joining the National Gallery, Fletcher worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she oversaw the presentation of such major traveling exhibitions as Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power and Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, and organized the U.S. iteration of Afro-Atlantic Histories, an exhibition that was originally presented by the Museu de Arte São Paulo as Histórias Afro-Atlânticas in 2018 in Brazil. The exhibition was displayed at the MFA, Houston before traveling to the National Gallery of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Dallas Museum of Art in 2022-2024.
She is currently working on an exhibition featuring the work of contemporary sculptor Chakaia Booker that will open at the National Gallery in the spring of 2025, among other projects.