Getty Publishes Black Curators Matter Book Edited by Kellie Jones and Tumelo Mosaka

The new book edited by Professor Kellie E. Jones and Tumelo Mosaka illuminates a critical history by spotlighting figures who have gained significant positions at museums and institutions nationwide and have transformed the art world since the 1970s.

The book – “Black Curators Matter: Conversations and Art and Change” – was published Tuesday by Getty Research Institute, the imprint of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Jones is the Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. Mosaka is a curator and is the director of the Black Curators Matter Project for the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.

“‘Black Curators Matter: Conversations on Art and Change’ takes on the complex histories of Black cultures in museums by foregrounding the experiences of Black curators who have worked in the field since the early 1970s,” Jones said. “These visionaries have been both witnesses to and progenitors of major change and transformation in the curatorial field, museum world, and beyond.”

Jones will discuss the book July 26 at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Tickets are sold out.

The publisher’s promotional materials lead with some important context: “The relationship between Black Americans and U.S. art museums has historically been fraught and hard-won. In the late 1960s, the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition and other groups organized protests at major art museums, calling for the inclusion of Black artists and curators. 

“Such advocacy led to acquisitions and exhibitions by Black artists at important institutions and spurred the establishment of museums and cultural organizations promoting Black art and culture.

“This book presents illuminating conversations between six pioneering curators — Lowery Stokes Sims, Deborah Willis, Richard J. Powell, Kellie Jones, Thelma Golden, and Franklin Sirmans — and a new generation of professionals, including Ashley James, Kalia Brooks, Aaron Bryant, Thomas Jean Lax, Rujeko Hockley, and LeRonn P. Brooks. Capturing the voices and experiences of Black curators, these discussions highlight their achievements and provide guidance for future generations aiming to diversify and enrich the cultural landscape.”

The book is already garnering praise.

Hyperallergic selected it as one of “15 Art Books We’re excited to Read in 2026.”

Harvard University’s Sarah Lewis, the founder of Vision & Justice, said the book is indispensable for curators, scholars, and artists.

“‘Black Curators Matter’ examines the museum as an insurgent site of reckoning and power through interviews between six landmark leaders and a vanguard of curatorial professionals,” Lewis wrote. “This book is a vital record of the full story of race and aesthetics in the arts today.”