Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies Our summer Spotlight on Inclusive Excellence features Dr. Tracey Johnson, whose article, "Value, Access, and the Role of Black Art Collectors during the Financialization of the Visual Arts in New York City, 1975–1991" was recently published in The Journal of African American History (Vol. 109, Number 2). From the abstract: This article investigates the centrality of Black art collectors in the dissemination of Black art and culture as the art world became less accessible to Black artists, ironically, during the 1980s art boom. The essay chronicles the controversy over a proposed move of the Studio Museum in Harlem to Museum Mile on the predominantly White Upper East Side, investigates the importance of cultivating a Black art-buying constituency, and assesses the quest of Black visual artist Romare Bearden and his allies for mainstream recognition at the cost of a Black arts institution. This article draws on newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and organizational records to examine the politics of Black middle-class patronage networks and their impact on Black artists and art institutions as the art world became financialized in the 1980s. Tracey Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Institute for African American Studies. She specializes in social movements, the history of education, urban and political history, and the history of Black art and artists. She received her doctorate in African American and African Diasporic History from Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Professor Johnson has taught classes on Modern African American History, African American Women's History, African American Art History and Museum Studies, and Art and Activism in the United States.
