Culture Type, Theaster Gates Starts, Rodney McMillian, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Noah Purifoy, Hurvin Anderson, Glenn Ligon, Victoria L. Valentine, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Retrospective: The Latest News in Black Art – Theaster Gates Starts Apprentice Program, Rodney McMillian Wins Austin Art Prize

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Retrospective: The Latest News in Black Art – Theaster Gates Starts Apprentice Program, Rodney McMillian Wins Austin Art Prize

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″]This week, Theaster Gates announced a groundbreaking apprenticeship program to provide training for local residents through his Rebuild Foundation in Chicago; Rodney McMillian received an important inaugural art prize; and a number of African American artists were honored at galas and benefit dinners.[/perfectpullquote]
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, Theaster Gates announced a groundbreaking apprenticeship program to provide training for local residents through his Rebuild Foundation in Chicago; Rodney McMillian received an important inaugural art prize; and a number of African American artists were honored at galas and benefit dinners. LaToya Ruby Frazier photographed Noah Purifoy‘s Outdoor Museum and UCLA students created a searchable database of African American silent films. Plus, new exhibitions feature the work of Hurvin Anderson and Glenn Ligon.

NEWS

Theaster Gates announced Dorchester Industries, a new apprenticeship program through his nonprofit Rebuild Foundation providing artisan and craft training for unemployed and under-employed residents of Chicago’s South Side.

Nick Cave‘s professorship at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been endowed with a gift of $2 million from Chicago-area arts patrons Stephanie and Bill Sick, longtime friends of artists.

AWARDS & HONORS

Los Angeles-based artist Rodney McMillian won the inaugural Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize—a $100,000 award that also includes a solo exhibition at The Contemporary Austin museum in Texas.

Performa’s benefit gala honored curator Okwui Enwezor and included a commissioned performance by South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga.

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum held its annual fundraising gala in New York, a gathering of artists, curators and collectors, where 40 artists including Rashid Johnson, Tony Lewis, Rodney McMillian, and Adam Pendleton, were honored.

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE was honored by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York is honoring Mickalene Thomas tonight, presenting the artist with a Community Impact Award at its annual Women’s Event benefit dinner and celebration.

The New Museum in New York honored photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier at its Next Generation dinner. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″]


MY LIFELONG LOVE OF ART AND BOOKS was the genesis for Culture Type. The site began as an exploration of my personal library—an expansive collection of rare, vintage publications and more contemporary volumes on art by and about people of African descent.

Culture Type has since evolved and now features a compelling mix of book and exhibition reviews, art news, and Culture Talks—exclusive interviews with artists and conversations with innovative figures in the art world about the intersection of art and culture. Special reports include an annual list of the Best Black Art Books and the Year in Black Art.

Drawing connections between artistic vision and pivotal cultural moments, Culture Type surfaces journalistic and scholarly insights and shares invaluable interestingness culled from the published record on Black art.

IN DECEMBER 2015, Culture Type was awarded an Arts Writers Grant from Creative Capital and the Andy Warhol Foundation recognizing the site’s contribution as a “valued mode of engaging the visual arts.”