Black photographers’ artwork come to life in nation’s capital
JANS – To celebrate the opening weekend of Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985 at the National Art Gallery in Washington, DC, a conversation between exhibition artist Carla Williams and exhibition co-curator Deborah Willis will be held onsite Sept. 21 at noon. Their discussion will explore Williams’ creative work as an artist, scholar, writer, and editor, which has championed images of and by Black women.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985 is the first exhibition to consider photography’s impact on a cultural and aesthetic movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty.
Uniting around civil rights and freedom movements of the 1960s and 1970s, many visual artists, poets, playwrights, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers expressed hope and dignity through their art. These creative efforts became known as the Black Arts Movement.
Photography was central to the movement, attracting all kinds of artists – from street photographers and photojournalists to painters and graphic designers.
This expansive exhibition presents 150 examples tracing the Black Arts Movement from its roots to its lingering impacts, from 1955 to 1985. Visitors will be able to explore the bold vision shaped by generations of artists including Billy Abernathy, Romare Bearden, Kwame Brathwaite, Roy DeCarava, Doris Derby, Emory Douglas, Barkley Hendricks, Barbara McCullough, Betye Saar, and Ming Smith. Three pieces by photographer Roy Lewis, a native of Natchez, MS, are also featured from “The Wall” located in Chicago. “We’re bringing ‘The Wall’ to the nation’s capital,” says the highly regarded photographer.
Created in 1967 by the Organization of Black American Culture, the Wall of Respect was one of the first and most influential community mural projects in the United States. Its name came from Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect,” released that spring. Among those celebrated were Muhammad Ali, Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Stokely Carmichael, John Coltrane, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, and Harriet Tubman. About a dozen artists collaborated with people from the neighborhood to make the paintings, drawing some from photographs. The mural was demolished in 1972.
Following its run in January 2026, the Photography and the Black Arts Movement: 1955-1985 exhibition will travel to The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, February 24–June 14, 2026, and the Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, July 25–November 8, 2026. Lewis is scheduled to be on hand for all three opening ceremonies.
Major support for the year-long exhibition is provided by the Trellis Charitable Fund.
The exhibition is made possible by The Shared Earth Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Andrea Kirstein and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Inc., New York.
