Asmaa Walton is an art educator and founder of the Black Art Library, a collection of resources about Black visual artists.
Early life and education
Walton grew up in Detroit. Although she frequently spent time in the
Detroit Institute of Arts, she lacked arts education in school.
She attended a culinary school before enrolling at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
.
After graduating with a BFA in art education, she then completed a master's degree in arts politics from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
.
She was the KeyBank Diversity Leadership Fellow at the
Toledo Museum of Art and the
Saint Louis Art Museum’s 2019-2020 Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow.
Black Art Library
Walton noticed that there were few works on display by Black artists in major museums, and that few Black visitors found these museums accessible.
In an effort to improve arts education, she founded the Black Art Library during
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...
in 2020, posting images of books and resources about Black visual culture and Black aesthetics to an Instagram account.
She eventually collected over 200 resources. Walton created the online project for people seeking to know more about Black art, which is often excluded from the permanent collections of museums: "I really wanted to create a resource for our education. I wanted Black people to be able to use this resource and find an interest in art, or to do research, or just sit down and learn some things they might have already known but learn some new information about it."
While the project was digital in its first iteration, Walton opened a physical pop-up version of the Black Art Library in
Highland Park, Michigan, in summer 2020. It was then displayed at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in Detroit.
MOCAD is housed in a building, a converted former auto dealership designed by architect Andrew Zago. The architecture of the building ...
from January 21 to April 18, 2021.
Walton sees the archive as a "hybrid" community space where people can be comfortable while learning.
Visitors can interact with and touch artist monographs, exhibition catalogs, children's books, artist memoirs, artist biographies, art history texts, and other art-related ephemera.
In 2021, Walton collaborated with
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, and jewelry; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrances.
History
Found ...
, the Italian luxury fashion house, on a Black Art Library display at a pop-up store in Detroit. Walton was also named as a contributor to the Shepherd, a new arts complex in Detroit. A version of the Black Art Library at the Shepherd will be called the East Village Arts Library.
References
External links
Black Art Library at MOCADBlack Art Library on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Asmaa
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women artists
Artists from Detroit
American art educators
Michigan State University alumni
New York University alumni
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American artists