Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Mar 30, 2026 visibility 19 link 14 artists

bampfa quilts routed west

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) has launched "Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California," the first major thematic exploration of the 3,000-piece Eli Leon bequest. Curated by Elaine Yau, the exhibition features over 100 quilts by approximately 80 artists, tracing the migration of improvisational textile traditions from the American South to the Bay Area. The show highlights how these portable objects served as both functional necessities and vital forms of self-expression for Black women during the mid-20th century Great Migration.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article policy schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 18 link 12 artists

(BPRW) Getty Awards $1.8M to Increase Access to Black Visual Arts Archives

The Getty Foundation has awarded $1.8 million in grants to eight institutions through its Black Visual Arts Archives initiative, a multi-year program aimed at increasing access to archival collections related to Black artists and arts organizations. The grants will support processing, digitization, and public programming at venues including Afro Charities, Auburn Avenue Research Library, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Charles H. Wright Museum, Morgan State University, South Side Community Art Center, the University of Chicago's South Side Home Movie Project, and the David C. Driskell Center. This brings Getty's total funding for the initiative to $4.5 million since 2022, supporting 20 grants nationwide.

newspaper Black PR Wire open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 15 link 2 artists

Major show of African American quilts opening at BAMPFA — despite federal funding cuts

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) is opening "Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California" on June 8, the first major museum survey of its vast African American quilt collection. The collection, bequeathed by Oakland collector Eli Leon in 2018, includes over 3,000 quilts, with 100 featured in the exhibition. The show focuses on migration during the Second Great Migration (1940–1970) and highlights artists like National Heritage Fellow Laverne Brackens, Rosie Lee Tompkins, and Arbie Williams, alongside multi-generational quilting families. The exhibition opens despite recent federal funding cuts for conservation work on the quilts.

newspaper Berkeleyside open_in_new Read original