California African American Museum

Art Review

Months After LA Fires, Altadena's Black History Endures

An exhibition at the California African American Museum is both an exercise in reverence and a declaration of resilience for the neighborhood’s artistic community.

Art

Simone Leigh’s Monuments to the Black Femme

Leigh’s survey split between two Los Angeles venues demonstrates the futility in prescribing a definitive role to the Black feminine in a postcolonial world.

Art

Awakened by Matthew Thomas’s Spiritual Abstractions

By sharing his particular visual language, Thomas hopes to trigger our own connection to the divine.

Art

Nikita Gale Makes the Labor of Tina Turner’s Performances Visible

Gale considers the work occurring behind the scenes and how technologies structure our experience of live performances.

Art

Black Women Performers Discuss “Unrecognized Labor”

Gabrielle Civil, mayfield brooks, and Jasmine Nyende respond to Nikita Gale’s installation PRIVATE DANCER at the California African American Museum.

Art

A Lyrical Ode to the Vernacular Art of the American South

At the California African American Museum, Dust My Broom convenes a group of largely self-taught artists from the American South, and other Black artists profoundly influenced by it.

Art

Learn About the History and Value of Black Americana Collectibles

In tandem with its Making Mammy exhibition, the California African American Museum is hosting a conversation around the value of important, but difficult pieces of American history.

Art

Museum Hosts Afrofuturist Block Party to Honor Artist Timothy Washington

The California African American Museum is hosting a weekend of workshops and more in Leimert Park.

Art

Ernie Barnes's Iconic Chronicle of His Southern Roots and Sports

Best known for his painting "The Sugar Shack," Barnes focused on what he knew, capturing the seminal moments of his life growing up in North Carolina and as a football player.

Art

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

Art

A Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. at the California African American Museum

The day-long program of activities includes music performances, speech readings, and a children’s march.

Art

The Potent Realism of Robert Pruitt’s Black Portraiture

Pruitt unexpectedly makes draftsmanship feel relevant, even urgent.