Photo copyright 2019 by Anna Boudinot
Black history in California is woefully underappreciated, even though Black people were living in the state long before it was part of the US. Out of the forty-four founders of Los Angeles, in fact, twenty-six were of African descent. Seeking to enhance the Black cultural experience in Los Angeles and educate the public about Black contributions to art, history, and culture, the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Exposition Park is an invaluable resource and cultural hub.
CAAM, which became a Smithsonian affiliate in 2016, has a permanent collection made up of 4000+ objects dating from the 1800s to the present. Established in 1977, it was the first African American museum of art, history, and culture fully supported by state funding. Its earliest advocate was then-Congresswoman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. She pulled together artists, museum curators, academics, and representatives from community-based organizations to brainstorm how to establish a permanent African American museum. They successfully secured a state charter for the museum that covered its construction and operating budget, believing that governmental backing would “validate the concept of the museum and therefore encourage private citizens, corporations and foundations to participate.”
Work by Adia Millett at CAAM. Photo by Anna Boudinot, 2019
It took several years for the museum to secure all funds; an early version opened inside of the California Science Center in 1981 and CAAM broke ground on its current location in 1983. Admission has been free since day one.
Naima Keith, who served as CAAM’s deputy director and chief curator from 2016-2019 before moving to LACMA, played a crucial role in transforming CAAM for the modern age. The Los Angeles Times said she gave the museum a “jolt of energy,” building a
“physical space for dialogue around issues of art, activism and diversity—a particularly important role given the current political climate, when funding for the arts is at risk and issues of diversity are roiling through the national conversation.”
In addition, the museum’s aim is to “represent the diverse contributions of African Americans in the United States… and interpret how the past has affected identity in the present.” They accomplish this, in part, by juxtaposing historical documents and artifacts with modern and contemporary art; as visitors move throughout the space they absorb the present and the past in close succession.
A portion of Fade to Black by Gary Simmons. Photo by Anna Boudinot, 2019.
During a recent visit, I pored over newspaper clippings from The Liberator, an African American newspaper that was published in Los Angeles from 1900-1914. Included were photographs of African American-owned businesses in downtown Los Angeles, and I loved seeing the shopkeepers in early 20th Century attire standing in front of buildings that still exist today. I wandered into another room and discovered a retrospective of the work of Ernie Barnes, a multi-talented man who became famous as an NFL player and later as a painter whose work graced the album covers of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. His paintings were also featured prominently in the popular 1970s sitcom Good Times.
Another gallery housed a collection of geometric paintings and somber-yet-delightful dollhouse miniatures by Oakland-based artist Adia Millett; the artist has remarked that her art “is about cutting our stories apart and creating new stories from those pieces.” (Read more about this, and see photos of her work, here.) Bisa Butler, a portrait artist whose medium is quilting, captivated me with her intricate piece Anaya with her Backpack.
Anaya with her Backpack, a quilt by Bisa Butler on view at CAAM. Photographed by Anna Boudinot
And then there was the lobby atrium. The afternoon sun littered the floor with stripes, giving a kinetic feeling to Gary Simmons’ massive work Fade to Black. With the illusion of film credits scrolling from floor to ceiling, the painting listed early-to-mid 20th-Century films that had Black actors. The artist’s “erasure technique,” by which he smudges and sculpts wet paint, makes the text look like it’s disappearing. It’s a powerful way to not only call attention to the Black pioneers of American cinema, but to unite the museum’s catalog of the old and the new.
While in Exposition Park, stop by the California Science Center and the Rose Garden. Like CAAM, these attractions are free.