The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) proudly announces the appointment of Joël Díaz as the director of the Walter O. Evans Center for African American Studies. Díaz is an experienced leader and community builder within education and the arts. As director, Díaz will work closely with students, faculty, and staff to develop programming that enhances public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Black art and culture.
“Since its founding a decade ago, the SCAD Walter O. Evans Center has shined a brilliant, prismatic light on the story of contemporary Black culture,” states SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “The hiring of Joël Díaz, a gifted storyteller and educator, ensures that SCAD reaches and engages more students and SCAD Museum of Art visitors than ever before. The future of the Evans Center is bright!”
In 2011, SCAD established the Walter O. Evans Center for African American Studies within the historic SCAD Museum of Art. Through the generous gift of Ruskin Society member Dr. Walter Evans and his wife Linda, the SCAD Museum of Art is home to more than 60 important works of art by renowned African American artists.
In addition to the donated historic works, a permanent gallery space in SCAD Museum of Art is dedicated to exhibiting the work of African American artists. In the decade since its founding, the Evans Center and SCAD MOA have exhibited and celebrated Black artists, including exhibitions focused on the legacies of Jacob Lawrence and Frederick Douglass, as well as contemporary exhibitions by Lorraine O’Grady, Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, Fred Wilson, and many others.
“Art reveals to us the possibilities of life lived and life imagined, I am grateful to continue the work that SCAD, Dr. Evans, and Linda Evans began many years ago by celebrating, interrogating, interpreting, and expanding our understanding of what has been deemed possible for Black life through the lens of African American Art and Culture,” stated Joël Díaz on his new role.
To learn more about the SCAD Museum of Art’s Walter O. Evans Center for African American Studies, visit scadmoa.org/education.
