Why Historically Black Fisk University Needs An Art Museum Now

Founded in 1866, historically Black Fisk University is the oldest institution of higher education in Nashville, Tennessee. It has a storied history, having educated sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, historian John Hope Franklin, poet Nikki Giovanni, and activists John Lewis and Diane Nash, among many others. The university’s contributions to Nashville and the United States include the Grammy Award winning Fisk Jubilee Singers, the race relations research of sociologist Charles Spurgeon Johnson, the profound murals of artist Aaron Douglas, the famed Fisk Altitude Achievement Missile Team, and its newest contribution to the nation — the women’s gymnastics team — a first at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

In the midst of these contributions stands one of the nation’s greatest art collections, and unfortunately it is rarely ever seen. How did Fisk come to have this collection? First, Fisk, from its early days became a collection institution with the help of philanthropists Samuel Insull Jr, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller as well as the Carnegie Corporation, the Federal Arts Project, and the Rosenwald Fund. Second, in the early 1930s Aaron Douglas painted his murals on the campus. creating a canopy of art in Cravath Hall, and exposing students to art on a daily basis as they walked back and forth from classes. Third, in 1949, artist Georgia O’Keefe donated a portion of her and her husband Alfred Stieglitz’s art collection to the university. She made the gift because unlike most museums in the South, Fisk University would be open to all to see the art works; it did not practice racial segregation. Today, along with the over 100 pieces in the O’Keefe collection (which is shared with the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art as the result of a financial partnership), the University has more than 4500 objects of art, mainly in storage.

Given the popularity of Nashville as a destination city due to the vast music scene, and its growth in terms of population, according to Jens Frederiksen, Executive Vice President at Fisk, “it seems that the city is poised to support a museum at Fisk University.” He added, “Nashville is quickly becoming the center of the American South. Healthcare and music have traditionally shaped this city and yet, even the now famous moniker of ‘music city’ can be traced to Fisk University and the still growing and now Grammy award winning legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Nashville’s artistic scene is framed by the Frist Museum, which, while impressive in its exhibits and programming, does not maintain a permanent collection.”

The Fisk collection spans over 400 years and includes important examples of African, European and American Modernist, Oceanic, and Asiatic art. The collection contains works by artists of the African Diaspora spanning from the late 19th century to the present including Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ben Enwonwu, Akinola Lasekan, Estelle Manyolo, Etso Ugbodaga, Clara Ngu, Gerard Sekoto, and Skunder Boghossian. The collection also contains works by some of the most important African American artists of the past 100 years, including Jacob Lawrence, William Henry Johnson, Malvin Gray Johnson, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, William Artis, Richmond Barthé, Clementine Hunter, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Beauford Delaney, Sam Middleton, and many others.

Without the infrastructure to display its art, Fisk’s collection, while global in its significance and vast in its reach, has flown under the radar. According to Frederiksen, “At any given time, less than 1% of the total collection is shown considering the spatial limitation of the current Carl Van Vechten Gallery, which despite being fully restored barely provides 3,000 square feet of exhibition space.

Within artistic communities, Fisk’s collection is widely respected and has forged partnerships with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Yale University, the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian. Under the leadership of Director Jamaal Sheats, the Fisk collection has experienced increased momentum in recent years and yet, according to Frederiksen, “the 4500 extraordinary objects of art are still waiting for a museum to be built. Imagine what would happen if this art had a building. It would be transformational for Fisk and for Nashville.”

Frederiksen and Sheats believe that Fisk will have a museum to hold its collection and once it does, they want to “expand access to the collection, change the field, broaden horizons, and inspire the artistic and cultural imagery on a global scale.” As an academic museum, Fisk would bring a deep commitment to “preparing the next generation of museum leaders, curators, and conservationists in a field that has traditionally lacked the diversity and inclusion so crucial to the nation’s collective future.”

According to Kemuel Benyehudah, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, “HBCU-based museums are important to support because these were the first institutions in America to educate, and train Black artists and Black curators in our nation.” He added, “Mainstream museums are still struggling to integrate Black artists into their permanent collections and train the next generation of Black curators, Black archivists, and Black museum leaders. HBCUs with academic museums can solve these inequities by providing students with access to collections, training, and mentors to help lower the barriers for entry in a field, which has been typically reserved for White male elites.”