
Member Event – Gallery Talk and Tour in Karamu Artists Inc.: Printmaking, Race, and Community
May 7

Gallery Talk and Tour in Karamu Artists Inc.: Printmaking, Race, and Community
May 7, 2:00 and 6:00 p.m
CMA, Galleries 101A–B
Curators Britany Salsbury and Erin Benay will take us on a deep dive into Karamu Artists Inc., which explores the groundbreaking role that graphic arts played at Cleveland’s Karamu House, one of the nation’s preeminent Black community arts centers. Beginning in the 1930s, Karamu housed a printmaking workshop where artists and community members alike—including a young Langston Hughes—could experiment with various techniques, playing on printmaking’s fundamental democracy and accessibility. This led to the founding of Karamu Artists Inc., a group that counted among its members some of the most recognized Black printmakers of the WPA era. This exhibition is the first to place Karamu Artists Inc. and its innovative use of the graphic arts within the broader context of American art during the 1930s and 1940s.
Image Caption: Artist’s Life, No. 1, 1939. Hughie Lee-Smith (American, 1915–1999), Works Progress Administration / Federal Art Project. 4230.1942.