NYU Institute of African American Affairs & Center for Black Visual Culture

09/04/2026

The Center for Black Visual Culture is proud to announce our Academic Year 2027 Distinguished Artist-Scholar in Residence Dejha Carrington.

Dejha Carrington is an arts leader. In 2017, she co-founded Commissioner, a collaborative model and social practice that brings locals together to support contemporary artists and collect art in their cities. As Executive Director, she has cultivated an expansive community of over 850 members to date, collectively funding more than 50 curated artist commissions in Miami, Detroit, Montréal, and Mexico City. 

From 2015 to 2022, Dejha served as Vice President of Strategic Communications for YoungArts, advancing the national foundation’s mission to nurture the careers of emerging artists and alumni. Previous experience includes press relations and strategy for institutions such as the Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX); the 43rd Edition of the Medellín Biennial and ArtBo (Medellín and Bogotá, Colombia); and the National Film Board of Canada (Montréal, Canada). 

Join us as we welcome Dejha Carrington to the CBVC and NYU community with a celebratory reception marking the start of a fellowship dedicated to storytelling, process, and meaning-making in the arts.

September 16, 2026
6:00pm - 8:00pm
20 Cooper Square 3rd Floor Lobby, New York, NY, 10003
RSVP using the link in our bio

Continue reading Dejha Carrington’s full bio on our website.

09/01/2026

Dr. Deborah Willis gives her artist advice.

We asked Dr. Deb while at Anderson Ranch Arts Center if she had one piece of advice to give her younger self and her response is the same advice that she gives to her students: believe in yourself, believe in your work, believe that you have an important story to tell.

It’s so simple, and yet we as humans, as creatives, need to continue to remember this sage advice.

Thank you Deborah Willis for sharing your advice with us all.

08/21/2026

We had the pleasure of hosting McKinley Magnet Elementary students as we gave them a tour of this month’s special exhibition, “Free as they want to be: Artist Committed to Memory’ spread across all three sites including Baton Rouge Gallery, West Baton Rouge Museum and Southern University College of Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies.

The students went around and engaged with the artworks noting which ones stood out to them while expressing themes, colors, techniques, and processes that they recognized or wanted to learn more about.

Thank you to EBR Schools & EBR Magnet Programs for this special partnership.

08/17/2026

Please join the National Arts Club for “REFLECTIONS IN BLACK: A REFRAMING” by Dr. Deborah Willis.
Dr. Willis explores the history and legacy of Black photography through images that reveal how Black photographers have shaped self-representation and cultural memory from the nineteenth century to today. Drawing on her landmark publication Reflections in Black, she shows how photographers transformed the camera from a tool linked to distortion and exclusion into an instrument of self-definition, resistance, and creative expression. Featuring artists such as J.P. Ball, James VanDerZee, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ming Smith, the talk traces the evolution of Black photographic practice across portraiture, documentary, photojournalism, and contemporary art.

September 15, 2026 | 7 PM
The National Arts Club
📍15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003

NYU Tisch School of the Arts NYU Tisch Photo & Imaging-DPI New York University

08/14/2026

Repost from Baton Rouge Gallery - center for contemporary art
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Thank you to everyone who joined us last Sunday, August 9th for our Curator Talk with Deborah Willis, Ph.D., co-curator of “Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory”. It was a pleasure learning more about Deborah Willis and her journey through life that lead to the influences and decisions in curating such a reflective and inspiring exhibition.

We hope you join us at Southern University next Wednesday, August 19 for Closing Reception & Curator Talk with Cheryl Finley, Ph.D. starting at 4pm.

08/10/2026

Repost from Baton Rouge Gallery - center for contemporary art
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Thank you to everyone who joined us today for our free shuttle tour of this month’s site-wide exhibition, “Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory”, curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D. and Cheryl Finley, Ph.D.

A special thank you to Deborah Willis, Ph.D. for joining us as well in making this experience even more magical.

Make sure to stop by the gallery tomorrow, Sunday, August 9, at 4pm for Curator Talk with Deborah Willis, Ph.D.

For those interested in joining us in our next shuttle date, you can register at batonrougegallery.org/fatwtb-shuttles, for Saturday, August 22, from 12-3:30pm.

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07/29/2026

07/02/2026

Repost from Baton Rouge Gallery - center for contemporary art
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🚨 BIG NEWS 🚨 Baton Rouge Gallery, Southern University, and The West Baton Rouge Museum are proud to announce they’re partnering to bring a powerful multi-site exhibition - featuring works from some of the biggest names in American art - for a limited run in Louisiana’s capital area.

Opening August 1, Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory – curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D. and Cheryl Finley, Ph.D. – is a dynamic presentation of contemporary art inspired by historical memory that explores the role photography and film play in remembering legacies of slavery. It sees 30 different artists delve into a multitude of themes, including migration, identity, and the African diaspora.

The exhibition will be on view across each partner site - with free admission at each - alongside a variety of programs taking place at all three locations.

Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory brings together some of America’s most celebrated contemporary artists (alongside a few from beyond our borders), including Bisa Butler, Carrie Mae Weems, Dawoud Bey, Hank Willis Thomas, Radcliffe Bailey, Catherine Opie, and many others. For its Baton Rouge presentation, works from select Louisiana-based artists will add local context and perspective to the dialogue with visitors.

Learn more about the artists to be featured and the wealth of events and experiences that’ll allow you to engage with local historians, creatives, and more by visiting the link in our bio.

Our thanks to those who have generously made it possible for this unique partnership to bring such an exhibition to Louisiana’s capital area. Stay tuned for more exciting details to come.

06/21/2026

Repost from Temple University Press
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This is what freedom looked like.

Temple University Press honors and celebrates Juneteenth with ENVISIONING EMANCIPATION by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer.

Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Non-Fiction, 2014, and one of the Top 25 Outstanding Academic Titles, Choice, 2013