Above: Florida Memorial University campus, Miami Gardens, Florida.
Friday, December 3, Noon to – 1pm EST tinyurl.com/ArtBaselHBCUFMUTour
Each year, art lovers travel from all over the world to see the finest art during Art Basel in beautiful Miami Beach, Florida. This year from December 2-4, the post-pandemic Miami crowd will appreciate a freshness in art that will spark new passion that is sure to satisfy art enthusiasts, especially those interested in African American artists! To coincide with the bursting week of art fairs and events, Picture That Consultants is proud to launch the first ever virtual tour of an HBCU art collection in Florida featuring Florida Memorial University (FMU) during 2021 Art Basel Miami Beach on December 3. This tour is a part of Picture That’s HBCU Digital Art Collection Project (H-DAP) where fifteen HBCU Art Collections have been featured thus far. If you’ve ever desired to browse an HBCU Art Collection and all its features without physically taking the trip, H-DAP will soon allow you to do just that!
Above: “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, Edward E.Parker, Painted ceramic, 24″ X 23″, FMU – Nathan W. Collier Library, Florida Memorial University Art Collection
Operating a black-owned art business and having attended Morgan State University, Valerie Cooper (Founding Partner of Picture That) is passionate about providing global accessibility and exposure to the rich array of HBCU Art Collections, specifically targeting audiences in the academic world, the corporate world, and the art world. Through virtual showcases like the upcoming Florida Memorial University Art Collection tour, H-DAP will connect HBCU fine art collections nationwide, which will broaden the knowledge base of each academic institution’s holdings. In addition, H-DAP will enlighten other institutions and organizations about the vast array of African American art housed at HBCUs, through the latest cloud-based technology and searchable information systems. Many of the collections contain hidden historical gems that would not be readily accessible to the public otherwise.
Above: 15 of the 107 HBCUs with preliminary data reflected in H-DAP.
A major art project such as H-DAP will be implemented through the building of educational partnerships, collaborations with corporate entities that will provide financial sponsorship, and most importantly, with the required input from each of the 107 HBCUs. HBCU visibility will increase, new corporate partnerships will be made and there will be greater networking between HBCUs. As a result of H-DAP, the workforce will be able to hire students at the community college, undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels and provide internships, fellowships and consulting opportunities. HBCUs’ art museum studies, curatorial, information technology, library science, business students and others will develop new real-world skills and become more marketable after graduation. As of the 2021 fiscal year, fifteen of the 107 HBCU Art Collections have preliminary data uploaded in H-DAP. A metric for success is that all 107 HBCU art collections are included in this initiative, adopting a “no child left behind” mentality.
