The Black Wall Street Times
Nehemiah D. Frank
TULSA, Okla. — A few miles from the Greenwood District — once the epicenter for African-American arts, music, and culture west of the Mississippi — tucked in the Osage Hills at the Thomas Gilcrease Institute and Museum of Art and History, the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African-American Art is now on display from January 24 through July 26, 2020.
Quraysh Ali Lansana, a co-founder of Tri-City Collective and Focus: Black Oklahoma as well as an esteemed author and professor, said that it is the largest display of African-American Art to be on display at the Gilcrease Museum in over 18 years.
In a Saturday panel discussion, that featured Kerry Davis and Dr. Amalia Amaki, Lansana curated an in-depth conversation on how black collectors shape the way that African American Art is appreciated, understood and valued. Lansana said that Kerry and C. Betty Davis are redefining community by sharing their personal, home art collection, which features over 400 pieces of art created by African-American artists from across the U.S.
“It’s a profound redefinition of community, particularly, at this moment when our young people are more attached to their devices than to one another,” Lansana said.