Andrea Brownlee awarded David C. Driskell Prize
The award, which notes an original contribution to African-American art or art history, has been awarded nationally by the High Museum since 2005 and comes with a $25,000 cash prize
- DUSTIN CHAMBERS
- Andrea Barnwell Brownlee with Carrie Mae Weems’ “I Looked and Looked and Failed to See What So Frightened You.”
Spelman Museum of Art director Dr. Andrea Barnwell Brownlee has been awarded the 2013 David C. Driskell Prize. The award, which notes an original contribution to African-American art or art history, has been awarded nationally by the High Museum since 2005 and comes with a $25,000 cash prize. In her role as director, Brownlee has established the Spelman Museum as a national destination focusing on work by and about women of the African Diaspora.
CL has been following Brownlee’s achievements for years now, including her recent role in the first curatorial team from the United State to participate in the Havana Biennial.
Brownlee’s work with Spelman has been noted for introducing boundary-pushing exhibitions, including IngridMwangiRobertHutter’s Constant Triumph and Cinema Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image Since 1970, which was later exhibited in Cuba. In 2011, as the Spelman museum readied forits 15th anniversary, she said, “I do not believe museums are safe spaces. They are places that you come for ideas, they’re about rigorous conversations, they’re a place to argue and they’re a place to champion your beliefs. I simply believe that taking risks is part of that journey.”