The Africa Center
The Africa Center, formerly known as the Museum for African Art and before that as the Center for African Art, is a museum located at
The Museum has organized nearly 60 critically acclaimed exhibitions and traveled these to almost 140 venues nationally and internationally, including 15 other countries. Forty of these exhibitions are accompanied by scholarly catalogues.
History
Holland Cotter wrote in 2010 about what is now the Africa Center, "In the 1980s and '90s it revolutionized the way art, any art, could be exhibited. No one else has fully picked up that challenge since. Maybe the museum itself, under wraps the last few years, can do so again."[2]
Early years, as the Center for African Art / Upper East Side / 1984–1993
What is now the Africa Center was opened as the Center for African Art in September 1984 by its founding director, Susan Mullin Vogel, who had previously worked as Associate Curator in the "Department of Primitive Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The center's original location was on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in "a pair of converted town houses at 54 East 68th Street."[3][4] As director, Vogel curated and organized ground-breaking exhibitions which put into question ways in which African art is presented to Western audiences, and how museum practices structure knowledge for the public. The most well-known of these exhibitions are "Art/Artifact: African Art in Anthropology Collections" in 1988, "Exhibition-ism: Museums and African Art" in 1994, and "Africa Explores: 20th-Century African Art" in 1991. Based largely on Vogel's earlier exhibitions, Roberta Smith wrote in The New York Times in 1989 that the 1980s "may also come to be seen as the beginning of the golden age of African art exhibitions."[5]
As the Museum / SoHo / 1993–2002
In February 1993, the institution changed its name to the Museum for African Art and moved to a three-times larger space at 593 Broadway in Soho, that was designed by the architect and artist Maya Lin and described by New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp as "a flowing sequence of galleries, unfolding on two floors," in which Lin "uses subtle gradations of color to suggest a passage through time as well as space."[6][7] After founding director Vogel was named director of the Yale University Art Gallery in 1994, Grace C. Stanislaus was named as executive director in February 1995.[8] Elsie McCabe (later Elsie McCabe Thompson) led the institution from 1997 until she resigned in 2012. When McCabe took over, she "set her sights on moving the tiny museum and collection" from Soho to uptown Manhattan, saying (ironically given that she moved the museum to its third and fourth locations), "A museum is very much an edifice, and you can't attract a loyal and dedicated audience if you're constantly on the move."[9]
Long Island City / 2002–2006
In September 2002, the museum moved to its third location, at 36-01 43rd Avenue, third floor, in
Planned reopening as the Africa Center / Museum Mile and Harlem / Ongoing
The new location, in a building designed by architect
While the outer-shell of the building was completed in 2010, critical interior build-out and occupation was delayed by stalled fundraising efforts and leadership transitions.
The Africa Center also hosts a Shared Studios Portal, which connects the center live and in real-time to communities around the world. The majority of their Portal connections are to sites on the African continent.[22]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Maloney, Jennifer (2013-09-27). "New Africa Center's Journey in N.Y." The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
- ^ Cotter, Holland (9 September 2010). "Globetrotting While Staying Close to Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ McGill, Douglas C. (18 September 1984). "Center Devoted to African Art Opens". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Glueck, Grace (3 November 1985). "OLD-COUNTRY PLEASURES; CENTER FOR AFRICAN ART". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Smith, Roberta (16 July 1989). "ART VIEW; Balancing African Anthropology and Art". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Reif, Rita (7 February 1993). "ARTS/ARTIFACTS; For African Art Treasures, a Place to Spread Out". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Muschamp, Herbert (12 February 1993). "Review/Architecture; Crossing Cultural Boundaries". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "New Director for African-Art Museum". The New York Times. 4 February 1995. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ a b Manly, Lorne (18 March 2015). "Africa Center Post Gives Michelle D. Gavin a Chance to Show Diplomatic Skills". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "COMING ATTRACTIONS; Eakins, Warhol, African Art and a Bus Ride to Long Island City". The New York Times. 24 April 2002. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Cotter, Holland (20 September 2002). "ART REVIEW; The Face (And Soul) Of Africa". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (July 6, 2005). "City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ^ "Carnegie Corporation - News". 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Cohen, Patricia (23 August 2013). "Museum for African Art Broadens Its Mandate". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ a b Maloney, Jennifer (2013-08-22). "Museum for African Art Pivots Toward Policy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
- ^ "Mayor Bloomberg Announces New Home for the Museum for African Art". NYC EDC. 8 February 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Chan, Sewell (February 9, 2007). "Museum for African Art Finds Its Place". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ^ Moynihan, Colin (March 24, 2017). "Africa Center Looks to Close Fund-Raising Gap, and Open Its Doors". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ Moynihan, Colin (8 February 2017). "Loss of Director Is the Latest Setback for the Africa Center" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Maloney, Jennifer (2013-09-26). "New Africa Center Sets 2014 Opening Date". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
- ^ Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari (February 4, 2019). "West African Fine Dining Chef Returns to NYC With a Hip Harlem Restaurant". Eater NY. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ Pitcher, Laura (13 May 2019). "step inside these 'portals' to connect with diverse communities around the world". VICE.