Page 17 - Mar2019

50 Years Strong
Revered for 50 years, the Studio Museum gets new cura- torial talent, a multimillion-dollar makeover and a bold vision for its next half-century BY ZACHARY R. DOWDY
l As a child, Legacy Russell often visited the museum that over the last half-century has burnished a reputation as the visually artistic equiv- alent of the world-renowned Apollo Theater, a fabled place to relish artists of African descent in both the starts and pinnacles of their careers.
The New York Times recently dubbed the Studio Museum in Harlem, where Russell now serves as associate curator, something that art aficionados well be- yond 125th Street–the area’s financial and cultural artery--have known all along.
It is New York City’s “premier showcase for African-American art.”
As the Studio Museum’s newest curator, Russell arrived in September to help shape a new legacy as the institution marked its 50th anniversary, a milestone that at once commemorates a glorious past and--in the appointment of a theorist whose work explores intersections of race, gender and art in the Inter- net age–an embrace of the future.
DRAWINGS: COURTESY OF THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM
HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW MAGAZINE PAGE 17