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# #HyperPicks: Curating Black Art into the Canon
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/hyperpicks-curating-black-art-into-the-canon/
- Published: 2017-02-06T22:23:38.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:45:59.000Z
- Description: On February 7, art historian Kellie Jones will be in conversation with blogger Kimberly Drew at Brooklyn Historical Society.
- Author: Jillian Steinhauer
- Tags: Art, Brooklyn Historical Society, Events, Hyper Picks, Kellie Jones, Kimberly Drew, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/02/jones-drew-pick.jpg)

Left: Kellie Jones (photo courtesy John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation), right: Kimberly Drew (photo by Lyndsy Welgos)

We may not often think of art historians as doing trailblazing work, but [Kellie Jones](https://www.macfound.org/fellows/959/?ref=hyperallergic.com) proves that they can — just ask the MacArthur Foundation, which awarded her a fellowship (aka a “genius grant”) in 2016\. Curator of such crucial exhibitions as [*Energy/Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction, 1964–1980*](http://www.studiomuseum.org/shop/energy-experimentation-black-art-and-abstraction-1964-1980?ref=hyperallergic.com) (2006) and [*Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960–1980*](http://hyperallergic.com/59017/now-dig-this-moma-ps1/)(2011)*,* Jones is known for bringing countless artists of the African diaspora into the predominantly white art historical canon. Last fall, she [told the Hyperallergic podcast](https://hyperallergic.com/art-change-things-conversation-curator-art-historian-kellie-jones/) about the roots of her work in her art education growing up: “I asked myself, ‘why are all the people of color very ancient?’ They’re Egyptians, they’re Aztecs, but after that you don’t see people, and I thought this was wrong.” On Tuesday night, Jones will join Kimberly Drew, founder of the blog [Black Contemporary Art](http://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s social media manager, for a [conversation](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-voices-black-art-upending-convention-with-kellie-jones-and-kimberly-drew-tickets-29533370105?ref=hyperallergic.com) at the [Brooklyn Historical Society](http://brooklynhistory.org/visitor/calendar.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), where she’ll discuss her art historical career and her activism.

**When:** Tuesday, February 7, 7–9pm ($10)  
**Where:** Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)

*More info* [*here*](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-voices-black-art-upending-convention-with-kellie-jones-and-kimberly-drew-tickets-29533370105?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*