Endia Beal (born February 8, 1985) is an African-American visual artist, curator, and educator. She is known for her work in creating visual narratives through photography and video testimonies focused on women of color working in corporate environments.

Early life and education

Endia Beal was born on February 8, 1985, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is the daughter of Frank Beal and Sheila Beal. Beal took her first photo class at

University of North Carolina Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

. In 2008 Beal graduated from

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

with a double bachelor's degree in Art History and Studio Art. As an undergraduate student, she attended the Studio Art Center International in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

focusing on classic

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

of High Renaissance period. After her bachelor's degree, Beal was selected to participate in ArtTable - a program aimed at empowering women in the visual arts. At ArtTable she represented

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, where she helped curate the Andy Warhol Exhibit at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery of

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. During this program, she began combining her artistic practices elements from activism work to create marketing campaigns in an effort to redefine the relationship between minorities communities and art. In 2013, Beal got a master's degree from Yale School of Art in Fine Arts and Photography. During this time she created her first body of work exploring the struggles of women of color in the professional field, in the corporate space in particular. Since 2014 Beal has worked as the Director of Diggs Gallery at

Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as Slater Industrial Academy o ...

and is an Associate Professor of Art there.

Career

As her role models and sources of inspiration, Beal was interested in artists who incorporate personal stories in order to draw a bigger picture. Another important theme in Beal's works is questioning conformity and gender roles. Beal lists Carrie Mae Weems and

Lorna Simpson Lorna Simpson (born August 13, 1960) is an American photographer and multimedia artist. She came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as ''Guarded Conditions'' and ''Square Deal''. Simpson is most well-known for her work in c ...

as her personal favorites. In her works, Beal uses visual narratives, expressed both in photo and video projects, that focus on examining the personal experiences of marginalized communities and individuals, focusing mostly on the background of African American women. Beal connects personal stories to the bigger background of the social group that she documents through her photography. After participating in the artist-in-residence program at the

Center for Photography at Woodstock The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) is a not-for-profit artist-centered organization to develop and promote contemporary photography, located in Woodstock, New York. It began operations in 1977 under the name ''Catskill Center for Photogr ...

, she developed her previous work in the project "Can I Touch It?" For this project, she made traditional portraits of white women that one would find in a corporate context but they wore traditional hairstyles of black women. Using role reversal, she wanted to represent the experience that she has faced herself as a black woman in the corporate field. Another one of Beal's projects, "Am I What You Are Looking For?", focusing on portraying young black educated women entering the workforce and the personal stories behind them, was featured in

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's 2016 Photo issue and won a grant from the

Magnum Foundation Magnum Foundation is a non-profit, photographic foundation located in New York City with a mission to expand diversity and creativity in documentary photography. History and mission Magnum Foundation was founded in 2007, in the midst of the c ...

. Beal has worked in a curatorial capacity at the

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is a multimedia contemporary art gallery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. SECCA has no permanent collection but offers exhibitions of works by artists with regional, national, and international ...

and the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology. She won a 2019 fellowship from Center for Curatorial Leadership.

Exhibitions

Beal's works have been exhibited in many institutions in the United States, including the Charles H. Wright Museum in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, the

Harvey B. Gantt Center The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, formerly known as the Afro-American Cultural Center, is in Charlotte, North Carolina and named for Harvey Gantt, the city's first African-American mayor and the first African-American ...

and the McColl Center, both in

Charlotte, NC Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

Aperture Foundation Aperture Foundation is a nonprofit arts institution, founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their vision was to create a forum fo ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and the

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

, Alice Austin House Museum, Photographic Center Northwest, Cathrine Edelman Gallery and Nasher Museum of Art.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beal, Endia African-American women artists American women curators American curators 1985 births Living people 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American artists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Yale School of Art alumni Winston-Salem State University faculty 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers 20th-century American women photographers 21st-century American women photographers American women academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women