Making African Art
“I would tell any graduate student to do whatever is possible to get involved with a Collaboratory project! The Humanities Collaboratory is a rare research space; an innovation that is unique to the University of Michigan. Check it out!”
Traci Lombre (PhD student, American Culture) shares her Collaboratory Story:
HC: Could you describe the ways that you have participated on your team?
TL: I have participated as a general researcher, reading lots of books and articles, watching documentaries, talking with members of my local communities on the subjects of African Art and the Black Arts Movement, as well as conducting interviews with artists here on campus and in other cities.
HC: What has been your most memorable Collaboratory experience?
TL: Laura De Becker suggested that I visit the Dorsey Art Gallery in Brooklyn, NY where I met and interviewed members of the Weusi Artists Collective which started in the 1960s. The artists were all so welcoming and excited about our project. They were so encouraging to me, reaffirming that this research project is unique and necessary to tell an untold story of art history. I left Brooklyn feeling more confident having successfully conducted my first real interview as a researcher meeting with world-renowned artist, Otto Neals. His work is held in the collections of the Ghana National Museum, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and [in private collections of] Congressman John Lewis, jazz musician Randy Weston, actor/singer Harry Bellafonte and the one and only, Oprah Winfrey!
HC: How does your Collaboratory experience fit into the bigger picture of your grad career or into your anticipated professional life?
TL: I have been interested in the certificate program in Museum Studies for years, but this opportunity has offered me a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating an exhibit and catalogue. I am hooked! Working with the Collaboratory is an opportunity to see scholarship and academic ideas in practice. That is awesome!
HC: Are there intersections between your Collab work and your other areas of scholarly activity?
TL: Definitely. The “Making African Art” project’s focus aligns well with my own research which re-examines the origins of the Harlem Renaissance, Blues-based swing jazz and Bebop, cultural products from the 1920s through the 1940s. My Collab work has helped me to understand how…the cultural backgrounds of Black Kansans who were active in these earlier Black artistic movements—like Aaron Douglas, Langston Hughes and Charlie Parker—connect to the efforts of the African American artistic, political, and social movements of the 1960s.
HC: What would you say to other graduate students interested in getting involved in a Collaboratory project?
TL: I would tell any graduate student to do whatever is possible to get involved with a Collaboratory project! The Humanities Collaboratory is a rare research space; an innovation that is unique to the University of Michigan. Check it out!