Newcomb Art Museum to open exhibits exploring new acquisitions, Black labor and folk art from the American South
From Jan. 18 through June 1, 2024, Newcomb Art Museum will present three distinct exhibitions – Legacy Traces: Recent Additions to the Museum Collection, Victory Workers, and William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision. Each exhibition is independent, representing different themes that are carefully considered in relation to the museum’s mission to build upon its institutional legacy and highlight contributions of the American South to the fields of art, craft, and design.
Legacy Traces: Recent Additions to the Museum Collection marks the campus debut of 21 works and considers how the museum’s acquisition practices have evolved in step with the institution’s growth and global trends in art. Victory Workers features representations of African American labor by artists of the 20th century and reveals the contributions of underrecognized workers who serve within and beyond their respective communities. The traveling exhibition William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision offers an opportunity to engage the work of the renowned, 20th-century visionary artist and folk sculptor with an emphasis on the complex relationship between Black cultural production and American museums.
“This series of exhibitions is an opportunity for the Newcomb Art Museum to share the growth of the museum’s collection, staff and interests over the last few years,” said Maurita N. Poole PhD, executive director and chief curator. “While we are pleased to present the work of William Edmondson, an underrecognized artist from the American South, I am equally enthusiastic about the work of the museum’s curators Laura Blereau and Kendyll Gross. Their shows are grounded in various collections on Tulane’s campus as well as throughout the city of New Orleans.”
“This series of exhibitions is an opportunity for the Newcomb Art Museum to share the growth of the museum’s collection, staff and interests over the last few years.”
- Maurita N. Poole PhD, executive director and chief curator
Legacy Traces: Recent Additions to the Museum Collection is curated by Laura Blereau, curator of exhibitions. Victory Workers is curated by Kendyll Gross, assistant curator. William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision is a traveling exhibition curated by James Claiborne, former curator of public programs, and Nancy Ireson, deputy director for collections and exhibitions and Gund Family chief curator at The Barnes. Poole organized the exhibition at the Newcomb Art Museum with the assistance of Alex Landry, former graduate curatorial assistant.
Funding for these exhibitions includes generous support from the Ernestine Bass Hopkins Fund, Ellen Conlon Fund, Ruth Dermody Sterling Fund, and Katherine Steinmayer McLean, and Jane Whipple Green Fund. Partial support for programming was provided by the Dorothy Beckemeyer Skau Art and Music Fund.
