Getty Invests $2.6M to Support Black Visual Arts Archives Across the U.S.

The Getty Foundation announced today it has awarded $2.6 million for 12 grants to libraries, museums, and universities across the United States through its Black Visual Arts Archives program.

Designed to increase access to archival collections across the country that hold vital information about work created by Black artists, the multi-year program provides archivists with wider capacity to organize, catalogue, and digitize materials. A major goal of the program is to increase visibility of archives to the public through exhibitions, community programming, and digital projects.

Cultural and academic spaces hold important records of powerful contributions to the visual arts by Black artists, including artist papers, records about exhibitions, educational programs, and more. However, many of these archives have been difficult to research, often because records are dispersed, not easily discoverable, or simply not yet formally processed.

“We need a fuller understanding of the influence of Black artists, architects, and cultural institutions to tell a more complete history of American art and culture, and we can work towards achieving this by investing in Black archives,” says Miguel de Baca, senior program officer at the Getty Foundation. “Black Visual Arts Archives delivers critical support to make these archives and the stories of creativity, resiliency, and community they hold more accessible to researchers and the general public.”

Five of the twelve projects received their grant a few years ago as part of the pilot phase of the program, which kicked off in 2022. These institutions spent months processing and digitizing archives, and several have launched public-facing projects to showcase previously inaccessible materials.

The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture used Getty funding to publish a digital zine in honor of the institution’s centennial anniversary. It included a vibrant timeline of the institution’s history and was distributed during their annual Literary Festival. The institution also published its first-ever finding aid for their extensive artist files, which include critical documentation about lesser-known artists, particularly Black and brown women.

Temple University is using its grant to create a virtual reality game that allows players to experience what it’s like to conduct archival research while simultaneously learning about historic exhibitions organized by the Pyramid Club, a social club that was the only Black-owned art gallery in Philadelphia at the time. They also processed 30,000 negatives of rarely seen photographs from the John W. Mosley Photograph Collection, which holds the most comprehensive visual record of Philadelphia’s Black social, intellectual, and cultural life in the 20th century.

Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum used Getty funding to survey and digitize its archival records that document its history as an arts and educational venue for Black artists since the 1960s. Part of their work included digitizing papers related to the District of Columbia Art Association, which unveiled previously unseen materials like photographs of artist, educator, and member Georgette Seabrooke Powell. This research helped inform the museum’s current exhibition A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900–2000.

“Our records are more accessible and user-friendly than ever for scholars and the public,” says Jennifer Morris, archivist at Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum. “We are grateful for a second grant from Getty, which will help us transcribe dozens of recently discovered audio and video recordings of D.C. artists who continue to have a tremendous impact on the region’s creative output.”

Archival projects will now kick off at seven institutions across the nation, including Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, California State University, Los Angeles, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University in Atlanta, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and Visual AIDS in New York City.

“The Amistad Research Center has served as a catalyst for scholarship, public dialogue, and community engagement, anchoring both academic research and grassroots initiatives in historical truth and cultural memory,” says Kathe Hambrick, executive director of the Amistad Research Center. “Funding support from foundations, such as the Getty, is essential for Amistad and greatly appreciated.”

To assist grantees with launching projects, Getty has partnered with professional archivist and consultant Dominique Luster who specializes in Black archives. Grant application inquiries are accepted on an ongoing basis. Learn about how to get involved.

Black Visual Arts Archives is one of several efforts by Getty to broaden awareness of and preserve Black cultural heritage, including Conserving Black Modernism, African American Historic Places Los Angeles, African American Art History Initiative, and its joint acquisition of the archive of acclaimed architect Paul R. Williams.

Results from the pilot phase of Black Visual Arts Archives will be presented during the annual Society of American Archivists conference, taking place in Anaheim, California, from August 24-27, 2025.

Full list of Black Visual Arts Archives grantees:

2025 grantees:

Amistad Research Center

New Orleans, LA
Grant amount: $275,000

Located at Tulane University, the Amistad Research Center is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most comprehensive independent repository of original materials on Black history, the African Diaspora, and civil rights. Getty funding will help the Center process papers of four artists in their collection, including Richmond Barthé, Elizabeth Catlett, Louise E. Jefferson, and Senga Nengudi. The project will allow archivists to separate original artworks from the files, enhance description and metadata of documents, and publish new online finding aids to make art materials more discoverable. To stimulate interest in the collections, they will create an online exhibition based on findings.

Cal State LA

Los Angeles, CA
Grant amount: $265,000

Housed in the Cal State LA University Library’s Special Collections and Archives, the Compton Communicative Arts Academy Collection holds slides, negatives, photographs, and pamphlets that document the academy’s creative output and grassroots legacy. Founded in the 1960s, the academy was a Black arts institution that nurtured visual and performing artists, filmmakers, and community activists during an era of cultural expression and social change in Los Angeles. Getty funding will allow Cal State LA to catalog, preserve, and provide digital public access to its collection. The two-year project will focus on processing about 4,400 photographic materials, which will be accessible through the Cal State LA Digital Repository.

Clark Atlanta University

Atlanta, GA
Grant amount: $140,000

As part of an effort to establish an official institutional archive for Clark Atlanta University's museum, Getty funding will help assess and inventory significant records related to the Museum's history, exhibitions, and artist and object files, all of which are currently stored in non-archival filing cabinets. The Museum's core collections were built through the venerated Atlanta Art Annuals, which played a significant role in showcasing and supporting major African American artists who were often excluded from mainstream art institutions, such as Henry O. Tanner, Elizabeth Catlett, and Charles White.

Emory University

Atlanta, GA
Grant amount: $280,000

The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University is an academic research library and houses one of the largest collections of archival material related to Black history and culture in the Southeastern U.S. Rose Library will use Getty funding to conduct folder-level processing of the archive of Jim Alexander, a revered documentary photographer known for chronicling African American life and culture in Atlanta. To activate the collection, the Emory Oral History Program will conduct an oral history with Alexander to coincide with his 90th birthday to create new, invaluable context for scholars.

Lincoln University of Pennsylvania

Lincoln University, PA
Grant amount: $125,000

As the first degree-granting Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the U.S., whose notable students throughout its history have included Gil Scott Heron, Larry Neal, and Romare Bearden, Lincoln University will create a searchable inventory of archival records related to African American art at the university. Grant funds will also support the development of course curricula for undergraduates interested in African American art history and library science. Future plans for archival activation could include the creation of interactive digital learning experiences and physical and virtual exhibitions.

Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

Washington D.C.
Grant amount: $310,000

As the first Smithsonian Institution devoted to African American history and culture, the Anacostia Community Museum possesses archives documenting its history as an arts and educational venue for Black artists since the 1960s. Getty funding will help organize archival materials for 13 exhibitions on African American art in the 1990s and 2000s, allowing them to catalogue and produce a finding aid for important papers. Stemming from work completed after Getty’s first grant to the institution, the team uncovered 50 original audio and video recordings of D.C. artists and art-related material that they will process, transcribe, and transfer to stable digital media. The team will also conduct oral history interviews with living D.C. artists to bring material in the archives to life.

Visual AIDS

New York, NY
Grant amount: $100,000

One of the first initiatives to record the impact of the AIDS pandemic on the artistic community, the Visual AIDS archive includes records donated by artists, caregivers, family members, and collaborators. Getty funding will help raise awareness about the prominence of Black artists within the historical narrative of the AIDS crisis, along with a dedicated archival fellow who will produce a thematic research guide with improved descriptions, enhanced searchability, robust artist profiles, and high-quality imagery. The fellow will surface the histories of at least 15 artists through original archival investigation and interviews with artists’ collaborators and loved ones.

Previously awarded grants:

Chicago Public Library

Chicago, IL
Grant amount: $200,000

Named for one of Chicago’s first Black librarians and Chicago Public Library’s first Black library director, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection is the largest collection of African American history and literature in the Midwestern United States. It contains a rich collection related to the Chicago Black Renaissance and historical materials that reflect some of the era's leading thinkers and creators, like Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Getty funding supported a project to increase the discoverability of archival materials and artworks. With the guidance of trained archivists and librarians, graduate students surveyed processed collections that informed and produced enhanced metadata description for their open-access catalog as well as content for public exhibitions and public programs.

Fisk University

Nashville, TN
Grant amount: $290,000

Fisk University Galleries, located at Nashville's oldest institution of higher learning, house one of the most important archives documenting African Diasporic contributions to modern art history. To ensure collections are cataloged, inventoried, and processed according to current archival standards, a project-based gallery archivist will conduct a comprehensive survey and cataloging of the materials, working closely with staff to organize them into defined collections and provide accurate, research-ready descriptions. This work will establish a stronger connection to the university’s John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin library and archives—already organized within established archival management software—so materials become publicly discoverable. The project will help determine future conservation priorities and serve as a foundation for additional accessibility initiatives, including enhanced finding aids and digitization efforts.

New York Public Library

New York, NY
Grant amount: $235,000

As the largest city public library system in the U.S., the New York Public Library holds 53 million items. Its research library, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, founded in 1925 in Harlem, has become one of the world’s leading institutions devoted to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of materials focused on the African American and African diasporic experience. Getty funding supported a project to survey the archives of its Art and Artifacts division, which houses 15,000 objects by artists like Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and Norman Lewis. Updated resources and descriptions allow scholars and researchers easier access to important records. The institution also reconstructed the first history of the Schomburg Center’s exhibitions.

Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

Washington D.C.
Grant amount: $210,000

Anacostia Community Museum’s materials have historically rarely been utilized by researchers due to insufficient descriptions and unidentified or unprocessed materials. Using Getty funding to survey, describe, and digitize its archival records, its records are now more fully accessible to scholars and the public. In addition to creating robust finding aids, archivists digitized materials and made them available online. The museum hopes to leverage its findings to inform future exhibitions.

Temple University

Philadelphia, PA
Grant amount: $250,000

The John W. Mosley Photograph Collection, housed within the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University, holds the most comprehensive visual record of Philadelphia’s Black social, intellectual, and cultural life in the 20th century. Getty funding helped make these rarely seen photographs and related materials discoverable and accessible to audiences, as the University processed around 30,000 negatives with up-to-date data and a finding aid. The Scholars Studio, a digital humanities incubator on Temple’s campus, is also developing a virtual reality game and teaching toolkit based on newly digitized archives of annual art exhibitions organized at the Pyramid Club, a private social organization for Philadelphia’s African American elites.