Join scholar Alexis Pauline Gumbs in conversation with artist Steffani Jemison to celebrate the release of Gumbs's new book, Primary: After and With Alma Thomas, published by Yale University Press. In Primary: After and With Alma Thomas, Gumbs explores the life and art of the late artist Alma Thomas. 

This program is part of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Studio Salon series, which explores the dynamic intersections of literature and contemporary art through artist talks, book launches, and writing workshops.

This event is free and open to the public. ASL interpretation will be provided.

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a queer Black feminist love evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all life. She is/they are the author of several books, most recently Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde and the award-winning Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals. She is/they are the cofounder of the Mobile Homecoming Trust, an intergenerational experiential living library of Black LBGTQ brilliance.

Steffani Jemison is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. In dialogue with interlocutors (living and ancestral), her work connects mark-making, gesture, projection, movement, and document. In 2026, her work is included in solo and group exhibitions at Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, FR; the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City; the Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany; the Moody Center, Houston; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City; Buffalo AKG, Buffalo, NY; and the Carpenter Center, Cambridge, MA; among other venues. Jemison’s work is part of many public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Jemison’s novella A Rock, A River, A Street was published by Primary Information in 2022. She is an associate professor in the Department of Art & Design at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.