The University of Kentucky Art Museum has received a $38,000 Curatorial Research Fellowship Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The grant will fund research on two African American photographers, Maurice W. Strider and William S. Dotson, who documented the Civil Rights Movement in Lexington during the mid-twentieth century. Curator Rachel Hooper will lead the research for a planned 2029 exhibition.
This grant brings long-overdue institutional recognition to Strider and Dotson, whose work has never been exhibited in an art museum despite its historical and artistic significance. The project exemplifies a growing effort to uncover overlooked art histories and expand the canon of photography. It validates the museum's scholarly work and will facilitate community engagement around the preservation and presentation of Civil Rights history.