University Libraries

“The Room of Silence,” is a short documentary about race, identity and marginalization at the Rhode Island School of Design by Eloise Sherrid.

The art world is a microcosm of the society we live in. It should come as no surprise then that structural racism and capitalism permeates how we look at art; it informs the work that gets prioritized as important and taught in the many classrooms that shape the arts for generations to come. This panel discussion will address the inherent issues of the structures in place at institutions of higher learning that seem content or complacent in continuing to teach an art history that is void of the intellectual and avant-garde contributions by artists of color.

Known for his vibrant reinterpretations of classical portraits featuring African-American men, New York-based painter Kehinde Wiley has turned the practice of portraiture on its head and in the process has taken the art world by storm. This film follows the artist as he embarks on an exciting new project: a series of classical portraits of African-American women-something he's never done before.

Khadijah Morley has a lot on her mind. As a young Black female artist at the start of her career, she articulates the problem before her that many other Black artists also face: “Often our voices are excluded from the canon of Western art history.”

A weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world with host Hrag Vartanian, cofounder and editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic.

A brand dedicated to honoring, uplifting, and celebrating Blackness and Brownness in the arts and culture sector.

The National Museum of the American Indian is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice.

Studio Noize Podcast brings you into the studio with the Black artists that are creating the culture. We highlight the techniques, practices, and inspirations of the very best in contemporary Black art.

The Asian Art Museum is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art and culture. Home to more than 18,000 works of art from over 40 Asian countries, we strive to be a catalyst for discovery, dialogue, and inspiration. With Asia as our lens and art as our cornerstone, we spark connections across cultures and through time, igniting curiosity, conversation, and creativity.

People and cultures have always exchanged and borrowed ideas from each other to create new forms of art and symbolic expression. Whether intentionally or not, most if not all human creations reflect varied sources of inspiration. Why, then, are some products negatively labelled “cultural appropriation” or their creators accused of disrespecting the very cultures they found inspiring? And why do products inspired from Indigenous cultural heritage seem to spark particularly strong reactions and pushback? This guide unpacks these important questions. It provides advice to designers and marketers on why and how to avoid misappropriation, and underlines the mutual benefits of responsible collaborations with Indigenous artists and communities.

Primary Source database that covers 5 key cities in African American History: Atlanta, Chicago, New York, St. Louis and various towns in North Carolina. Contains newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, oral histories, and photographs from early 1800s to present.

Databases included in this collection: American History, 1493-1945; American Indian Histories and Cultures; American West; Everyday Life and Women in America, c1800-1920; Popular Culture 1950-1975; Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice; Virginia Company Archives.

Black Studies Center consists of Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, featuring Interdisciplinary essays written by leading scholars on the Black Experience, audiovisual resources, and a timeline of key events in a variety of themes that link to resources in this database. The International Index to Black periodicals, which covers scholarly and popular Black Studies journals, including full text for many titles.

A primary source collection with materials on the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination and racial theory in America during three pivotal decades of the twentieth century. It includes documents from the Race Relations Department of Fisk University, a highly influential think tank on the area. The the department's work highlighted topics such as poverty and inequality, class, housing, employment, education and government policy

The Hate in America collection includes historic newspapers promoting, and opposing, white nationalism. It brings together for the first time local, regional, and national newspapers published by Klan organizations and by sympathetic publishers from across the U.S. It also includes key anti-Klan voices from newspapers published by minority, Catholic, and Jewish organizations.

Explore over 8,000 Documents of 20th and 21st⁠-⁠century art in Latin America, the Caribbean, and among US Latino communities

When an artist first faces risk, there are not a lot of roadmaps: the experience can be incredibly isolating and disorienting. A Safety Guide for Artists explores topics such as defining and understanding risk, preparing for threats, fortifying digital safety, documenting persecution, finding assistance, and recovering from trauma.

Art matters. Toward the achievement of social justice and the work of shaping human potential, the value of each life and every creative act indispensably enriches us all. NAEA must now stand with those demanding swift justice for those individuals and institutions whose crimes against humanity and defiance of accountability will no longer be overlooked.

People of Craft is a growing showcase of creatives of color and their craft in design, advertising, tech, illustration, lettering, art, and more. It’s time to redefine what a creative looks like.

Founded in 2019 by book artist and printmaker Tia Blassingame, the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective brings scholars of Book History and Print Culture into conversation and collaboration with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) book artists, papermakers, curators, letterpress printers, printmakers to build community, support systems.

Black Women of Print promotes the visibility of Black women printmakers, via accessible educational outreach, to create an equitable future within the discipline of printmaking.

The Cartoonists of Color, Queer Cartoonists, and Disabled Cartoonists databases were created and are maintained by cartoonist MariNaomi as a way to spotlight marginalized comics creators

A collaboration with Sandy Williams IV and Mariana Parisca, this play on self-help literature outlines steps towards shedding personal and cultural baggage to break up with white supremacy.

Rememory is a growing directory of creatives which highlights work and experiences of black women and non-binary people of the African Diaspora doing the work needed to claim their narratives, gazes and legacies in the global media.

In a 2016 study on the demographics of the commercial art world, it was estimated that just 5.9% of artists represented by New York City’s top galleries are Black artists, while nearly 25% of the city’s population identifies as Black or African American. In 2019, another study addressed large-scale underrepresentation of Black artists in museum collections. After analyzing the permanent collections of 18 major museums in the United States, researchers found that only 1.2% of artists in those collections are Black. In comparison, 14.6% of the total U.S. population identifies as Black or African American, according to the 2018 U.S. census. Statistics like these are no accident. The art world, like many industries, has a long history of excluding and suppressing voices of color. Systemic change in the art world is long overdue and requires fundamental shifts in all aspects of the industry, from hiring practices to museum collections.