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.
This funding matters because it addresses a critical gap in art historical scholarship: many archives documenting Black visual arts remain underfunded, unprocessed, and inaccessible to researchers and the public. By transforming the discoverability of artist papers, exhibition records, and photographic documentation, the grants enable a fuller, more inclusive narrative of American art. The focus on Black female artists—including figures like Alma Thomas, Faith Ringgold, and Dindga McCannon—also helps correct historical omissions in the art world's record.