The Smithsonian American Art Museum has its first Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art.
According to ARTNews, Dalila Scruggs — an educator and curator with a background in mediums including 19th- and 20th-century painting, prints, sculpture, and photography — will start her new position on April 22.
“I am delighted to welcome Dalila Scruggs to SAAM as the inaugural Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art,” said museum director Stephanie Stebich.
Scruggs — who received her doctorate in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University — will gather essential pieces of African-American art in her new role and contribute to SAAM’s exhibition program.
She will also support the cross-departmental project “American Voices and Visions,” which aims to reinstall the museum’s collection.
Since 2021, Scruggs has been the photography and prints curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. She worked as a guest curator at the Brooklyn Museum in 2020.
She had previously worked as a curatorial fellow at the Williams College Museum of Art, an assistant curator of American art at the Brooklyn Museum, and a consultant curator at the University of Alabama’s Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art, ARTnews reported.
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Scruggs has also contributed to books such as “Brooklyn Museum: Highlights” and “The Awe of the Arctic: A Visual History” for the New York Public Library and written articles, including “Activism in Exile: Elizabeth Catlett’s Mask for Whites” for the American Art Journal.
Named in honor of Augusta Savage, a sculptor, educator, and director of a community art program connected to the Harlem Renaissance, Scruggs’ new role is supported by an endowment of $5 million from anonymous contributors.
According to SAAM, Savage was among the pioneering artists who often worked with…
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