Report from Director of
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Fisk University Galleries Since my tenure as the Director of the Fisk University Galleries began in 2015, our primary goals have been to: 1. 1) develop new partnerships and programs to facilitate access and training for the next generation of artists, arts leaders and art advocates, and 2. 2) continue our efforts to advance in the preservation, protection, and promotion of our collections. We are actively pursuing these goals and have made major strides in doing so. With support from the Fisk University administration, faculty and students, community, and Friends of the Gallery, over the last 4 years we have opened 18 exhibitions, recruited and trained over 60 Gallery Ambassadors, welcomed over 10,000 visitors from across the world annually, and developed and sustained partnerships with museums, academic and community organizations. Our team has also given over 50 talks and participated in panels and conversations in the United States and abroad. Finally, Fisk University Galleries has been fortunate to secure funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission, Walton Family Foundation, Ford Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, Sotheby's, and in partnership with the Frist Art Museum-- we received funding from National Endowment for the Arts. Needless to say, we have been busy, but there is always more to do to support the Fisk University's mission. In 2018, Fisk University unveiled its 20182022 strategic plan. The plan includes seven guiding principles: 1) Transformational Student Experience; 2) Academic Excellence; 3) Thrive; 4) Diversity and Social Justice; 5) Community Partnerships; 6) Continuous Improvement; and 7) Globalization. In an effort to further align with the strategic plan, we launched the Fisk University Museum Leadership Program (FMLP) with support from the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative funded by the Walton Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The goal of FMLP is to train, develop, and diversify the professionals within the museum field. In May our 1st cohort of scholars that included 10 students from 5 HBCUS completed 4 modules: Conservation, Curatorial and
Collection management, Museum Education and Engagement, and Development. Members from our 1st cohort has entered their fellowship year and, we are currently in the mist of training our 2nd cohort. The FMLP has enabled them to work with many museum professionals across the country. In conjunction with the HBCU Alliance of Museums and Galleries our partners include, Winterthur/University of Delaware, Lunder Conservation Center, Yale University’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Princeton University Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Frist Art Museum, among others. In our commitment in raising the visibility of our exhibitions and programs-- we have not only enhanced our sustaining partnerships, and we have developed new ones. This Spring we opened Terry Adkins: Our Sons and Daughters Ever on the Altar, co-curated and co-presented by Fisk University Galleries and the Frist Art Museum. With the generous support from the NEA. The exhibition includes sculptures, prints, installations, and video by the multidisciplinary and multimedia artist and musician, on view in the Frist’s Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery from February 20 through May 31, and the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk from February 20 through September 12. Presented forty-five years after Adkins’ graduation from Fisk, the exhibition pays special attention to the influence that his time in Nashville had on the late internationally acclaimed artist. We are currently developing an exhibition in partnership with Cheekwood Estate and Gardens and Vanderbilt University—centered around Aaron Douglas and William Edmondson, scheduled to open in 2021. We are also organizing African Modernism in America, 1947-1967, with the support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, and an accommodation from Sotheby's Prize. The exhibition is scheduled to travel in partnership with the American Federation of the Arts-- set to open in Fall 2022. Stay tuned... there is more to come. —Jamaal B. Sheats, MFA 25
