Kimberly Drew
February 28, 2020
Kimberly Drew is the Elizabeth M. Marion Visiting Artist for Spring 2020.
Drew is a curator, activist, and author of soon-to-be released Black Futures, an anthology of contemporary Black experiences, and This Is What I Know About Art, part of a young adult series featuring big ideas from today’s leading activists and artists. She most recently worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and has been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Glamour. One of the most recognizable arts advocates working today, Kimberly Drew first gained international attention with a Tumblr account, “Black Contemporary Art,” that she started while still an undergraduate at Smith College. She then became the first social media manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, growing its following by millions while continuing to amplify the works of African-American artists with her influential Instagram and Twitter accounts, both @museummammy. In 2016, Drew co-founded the Black Art Incubator, a “social sculpture” aimed at creating new art publics through teach-ins, artist-led conversations, and panels. She received A.I.R. Gallery’s inaugural Feminist Curator Award and was named to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ YBCA 100; she has written for Hyperallergic, W, Teen Vogue, and Lenny Letter. A sought-after speaker and panelist everywhere from Art Basel to Harvard Law School, she keynoted the American Alliance of Museums conference in May 2019. Currently, Drew is finishing a book co-written with New York Times writer Jenna Wortham called The Black Futures Project, which she describes as a kind of cultural ‘yearbook’ on the model of Toni Morrison’s The Black Book, exploring what it means to be black and alive in the age of social media.
Workshop: Curating in the Digital Age
February 27, 2:00 - 3:00 pm
School of Visual Art and Design
McMaster Room 323
Free and open to the public. Sign up in advance.
An Evening with Kimberly Drew: in conversation with Dr. Nancy Tolson, Assistant Director of the African American Studies Program at UofSC
February 27, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Columbia Museum of Art
Free and open to the public. Register for a spot.
Co-sponsored by the African American Studies Program at UofSC and the Friends of African American Art and Culture at the Columbia Museum of Art.