Reopening Campaign
To invite both new and existing audiences to experience the Studio Museum in Harlem’s grand reopening, new building, and inaugural exhibitions, the Museum launched a six-month marketing campaign celebrating its legacy as the preeminent institution “Where Black Art Lives.”
African American Day Parade, September 21, 2025. Photo: Shirt
Rooted in the Museum’s history as a site of intellectual and cultural exchange, the campaign reinterprets the tagline “Where Black Art Lives” as a living narrative—one that evolves with the artists and artworks, and ideas that define them. A series of rotating phrases are paired with works from the Museum’s collection—“Where Black Art Remembers,” “Where Black Art Imagines,” “Where Black Art Returns,” and so on.
Photo: Kris Graves
This campaign structure honors the multiplicity of Black artistic expression while positioning the Museum’s new home as both a continuation and a renewal of its founding mission—to serve as the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally. Each iteration functions as a statement and an invitation for audiences to reflect on the ever-expanding, boundary-breaking dimensions of Black art.
Photo: Kris Graves
The campaign underscores the Studio Museum’s position as an institution that preserves history and is actively shaping the future of contemporary art and culture.
Photo: Kris Graves
Through this creative framework, “Where Black Art Lives” became more than a tagline—it became an affirmation of Harlem’s enduring role as a global center of Black artistic production and imagination.
Photo: Kris Graves
Over thirty works from the Museum’s permanent collection are represented across print, digital, social media, radio, outdoor platforms, and a film created by artist Mike Carson.
Artworks included in the campaign are listed below:
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, A Flashy Encounter, 2021. Watercolor, ink, and acrylic on paper, 16 1/2 × 11 5/8 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family 2022.17
Emma Amos, Baby, 1966. Oil on canvas, 45 × 50 1/8 in. Purchased jointly by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee; and Museum purchase with funds provided by Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee 2018.32
Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1964. Photo projection on paper, 64 × 50 in. Gift of the artist. 1972.5
Dawoud Bey, A Boy in Front of the Loews 125th Street Movie Theater (from the series “Harlem U.S.A.”), 1976. Silver print, 8 1/2 × 5 3/16 in. Gift of the artist 1979.1.12
Betty Blayton, Untitled, 1968. Oil and collage on canvas, 35 3/4 × 60 1/8 in. Gift of anonymous donor 1975.3
Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Garvey Day, Deedee in Car), c. 1965/printed 2018. Archival pigment print, 40 × 60 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee, Ruthard C. Murphy II in memory of Anderson dos Santos Gama, and Anonymous 2019.10
Elizabeth Catlett, Mother and Child, 1993. Mahogany, 67 1/2 × 16 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. Museum purchase 1996.13
Jordan Casteel, Kevin the Kiteman, 2016. Oil on canvas, 78 × 78 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2016.37
Noah Davis, The Gardener, 2009. Oil on canvas, 48 1/2 × 48 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2009.13
Beauford Delaney, Portrait of a Young Musician, 1970. Oil on canvas, 51 × 38 in. Gift of the Estate of Beauford Delaney 2004.2.27
Derek Fordjour, Untitled (Red Reverse), 2014. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, and newspaper mounted on canvas, 30 × 24 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.86
Samuel Fosso, Self Portrait, 1976. Gelatin silver print, 40 × 40 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2003.10.23
Barkley L. Hendricks, Lawdy Mama, 1969. Oil and gold leaf on canvas, 53 3/4 × 36 1/4 in. Gift of Stuart Liebman, in memory of Joseph B. Liebman 1983.25
Samuel Levi Jones, Inclusion, 2016. Encyclopedia and law book covers on canvas, 44 × 39 1/2 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.128
Rashid Johnson, Bruise Painting “Tarmac,” 2023. Oil on linen, 72 × 96 × 1 5/8 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by Greg Mondre and Lise and Jeffrey Wilks 2023.19.1
Deana Lawson, Roxie and Raquel, 2010. Inkjet print mounted on sintra, 35 × 43 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.173
Simone Leigh, No Face (Black), 2015. Terracotta, colored porcelain, and epoxy, 15 3/4 × 7 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.176
Norman Lewis, Bonfire, 1962. Oil on canvas, 64 × 49 7/8 in. Gift of the Estate of Norman Lewis 1981.1.2
Tom Lloyd, Narokan, 1965. Aluminum, light bulbs, and plastic laminate, 11 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 5 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Darwin K. Davidson 1988.3
Wangechi Mutu, Hide 'n' Seek, Kill or Speak, 2004. Paint, ink, collage, and mixed media on Mylar, 48 × 42 in. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn 2004.13.3
Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Proposal, 2017. Pastel, charcoal, and pencil on paper, 53 1/2 × 47 7/8 × 2 1/2 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.237
Lorraine O’Grady, Art Is… (Girlfriends Times Two), 1983/2009. Chromogenic digital print, 16 × 20 in. Bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, DC, collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.240
Chris Ofili, Untitled (diptych from the “Afro Muses” series), 1995–2005. Watercolor and pencil on paper, each 9 1/2 × 6 in. Gift of Anne Ehrenkranz in honor of Nancy L. Lane 2006.22
Faith Ringgold, Echoes of Harlem, 1980. Hand-painted cotton, 80 1/2 × 89 1/2 in. Gift of Altria Group, Inc. 2008.13.10
Lorna Simpson, Appeared, 2019. Ink and screenprint on gessoed fiberglass, 67 × 50 × 1 3/8 in. Museum purchase with funds provided by Rodney Miller 2020.15
William T. Williams, Trane, 1969. Acrylic on canvas, 108 × 84 in. Gift of Charles Cowles, New York 1981.2.2
Romare Bearden, Jammin at the Savoy, n.d. Mixed-media collage, in artist-painted mat, 20 3/16 × 28 5/8 × 9/16 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Mrs. Frank Saunders 1991.24
Frank Bowling, Blonde Betsey, 1976. Acrylic on canvas, 70 1/4 × 46 1/2 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Ninah & Michael Lynne 2015.22
Sam Gilliam, April 4 (Part III), 1968. Acrylic on canvas, 114 × 21 × 4 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Nina Felshin 1984.2
David Hammons, Untitled flag, 2004. Studio Museum in Harlem
Juliana Huxtable, Untitled (Casual Power), 2015. Color inkjet print, 40 × 30 in. Frame: 42 × 32 × 1 3/4 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by gifts from Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, and The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family 2015.8.2
Malvin Gray Johnson, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, 1928–29. Oil on canvas, 49 × 29 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Stefan Kaluzny 2012.33
John Kendrick, James Baldwin, 1973. Oil on plywood, 17 1/2 × 1 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of anonymous donor 1973.1
Moshekwa Langa, Past Midnight, 2020/21. Mixed media on paper, 55 1/8 × 39 3/8 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by The Holly Peterson Foundation 2024.39.1
Glenn Ligon, Give Us a Poem, 2007. Studio Museum in Harlem
Tom Lloyd, Clavero, 1965. Aluminum, light bulbs, and plastic laminate, 34 × 43 × 5 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro; Gift of Howard Wise L-2024-4-1 Tom Lloyd, Mantara, 1965. Aluminum, light bulbs, and plastic laminate, 26 × 23 × 5 in. Collection of Susan Freedman, NY L-2024-8-1 Tom Lloyd, Moussakou, 1968. Light bulbs, plastic lenses, aluminum, laminated plywood, with analog control box transferred to digital. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of The Lloyd Family and Jamilah Wilson 1996.11
Dave McKenzie, A Small Monument, 2004. Paper, foamcore, and cardboard, 45 × 30 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Anne Ehrenkranz, NY and funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2004.13.2
Louise Nevelson, Homage to Martin Luther King, Jr., 1974–85. Painted wood, 104 × 78 1/2 × 12 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of the artist
Gordon Parks, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thornton, Mobile, Alabama, 1956. Pigment print on paper, 18 × 18 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; bequest of Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947–2018), Washington, D.C. collector, educator, and activist 2018.40.252
Howardena Pindell, Autobiography, Scapegoat, 1990. Acrylic, tempera, oil stick, and polymer photo transfer on canvas, 76 1/2 × 139 1/2 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase 1994.1
Frank Stewart, Untitled (from the “Second Line” series), 1976. Gelatin silver print, 12 1/4 × 18 1/4 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of the artist 1979.3.3
Alma Thomas, Opus 52, 1965. Acrylic on paper, 7 1/4 × 10 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase and a gift from E. Thomas Williams and Auldlyn Higgins Williams 1997.9.18 Alma Thomas, Space, 1966. Acrylic on paper, 6 × 7 in. Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase and a gift from E. Thomas Williams and Auldlyn Higgins Williams 1997.9.19