Before we turn to the next chapter in this story—the explosion of experimentation and global visibility that marked the 1980s through the early 2000s—it is worth pausing to look at how these earlier movements resonated in Washington, D.C. The evolution of Black art here took a slightly different shape. D.C.’s story is a reminder that Black artistic expression in America has never followed a single path. It has always been shaped by local histories, competing ideologies, and the unique environment that supported it.

In Washington, several forces came together to create a vibrant and enduring art scene.

Howard University and the Foundations of Black Art in D.C.

At the heart of D.C.’s art history is Howard University. In 1921, James Herring founded Howard’s Art Department, establishing what would become one of the most important training grounds for generations of Black artists and art historians. A few years later, he founded the university’s art gallery and later helped establish the Barnett-Aden Gallery—one of the first Black-owned galleries in the U.S., which played a central role in the city’s cultural life.

Howard’s influence cannot be overstated. It nurtured artists like Lois Mailou Jones, Elizabeth Catlett, James Lesesne Wells, and Alma Thomas. Though D.C. remained a segregated city, the Barnett-Aden Gallery gained support from parts of the white cultural establishment. Duncan Phillips, founder of the Phillips Collection, and even Eleanor Roosevelt, were known to frequent openings there.

While Herring himself promoted a universalist and eclectic approach to art, exposing students and the broader public to a wide range of European and American styles, within Howard, there were vigorous debates about the path forward. Scholars in the philosophy and history departments—many inspired by the Harlem Renaissance—argued for a distinctly African American approach to art, grounded in the formal structures of African art.

Literature, History, and the Visual Arts

D.C. was also home to Carter G. Woodson, a pioneer of Black history education and the founder of Associated Publishers, the first Black-owned publishing house in the United States. Woodson introduced Black history courses at Howard and worked with artists like Lois Mailou Jones to illustrate his publications. Much like the Harlem Renaissance, this was a period in which visual art, literature, and political activism were deeply intertwined.

The Giants: Alma Thomas and Sam Gilliam

Perhaps because Washington existed outside of New York’s fast-moving art world, D.C. artists often felt freer to chart their own course. They were influenced by national movements but not beholden to them.

One of the most important figures to emerge during this period was Sam Gilliam (1933–2022), often associated with the second generation of the Washington Color School—a group originally composed entirely of white artists. Gilliam, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, moved to D.C. during the Great Migration and revolutionized the medium of painting. He became known for his draped canvases, such as the monumental work Carousel State, now in the collection of the Met.

Though Gilliam often titled works in ways that hinted at historical or political moments—such as April 4 (1969), a clear reference to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.—he also embraced abstraction as a form of personal and artistic freedom, resisting expectations that Black artists should only work in a figurative or political mode. For some in the Black community at the time, this choice was met with skepticism. Non-representational art was often seen as elitist, disconnected from lived Black experiences, and too aligned with white-dominated art theory.

Another iconic figure from D.C. is Alma Thomas. Born in Georgia, Thomas moved to Washington as a child during the Great Migration and became the first graduate of Howard’s art program in 1924—thanks in part to James Herring, who encouraged her to pursue art instead of home economics. Thomas taught art at the segregated Shaw Junior High School for decades and didn’t devote herself to being a full-time artist until she retired at the age of 69.

Her work is a celebration of color, light, and life. She drew inspiration from her garden, from color theory, from science, and from space exploration—rather than from politics or protest. She was the first African American woman to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum and broke records later in life. Her Sparkling Dew on Spring Flowers (1968) sold for over $1.4 million at auction—setting a record in D.C.

Black Artists from the 1980s to the Early 2000s

The 1980s through the early 2000s are sometimes called ‘The Golden Age’ of African American art. Black artists were gaining broader visibility and enjoying greater commercial success. Many artists who had come of age during the 1950s and 60s continued to create politically charged, community-rooted work, but this new generation also embraced pop culture and abstraction.

The Cosby Show, one of the most-watched television programs of the 1980s, prominently featured Black art. Ernie Barnes’ The Sugar Shack, originally painted in the 1970s, became a pop icon thanks to its appearance in the show. The Huxtable family’s art collection helped bring Black visual culture into millions of American homes.

This period also saw the rise of thousands of Black-owned galleries and art collectives—over 3,000 cooperative galleries were established between 1985 and the early 2000s. Artists increasingly engaged with themes of identity, justice, urban life, and popular media. Hip hop and street culture began to influence not just music and fashion but fine art as well.

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988), perhaps the most famous Black artist of the 20th century, rose to stardom during this period. A self-taught artist who emerged from New York’s downtown graffiti scene, Basquiat bridged the worlds of street art and high art. Though he faced great racism in the New York art world, he resisted being labeled as a “Black artist,” and his work directly engaged with race, wealth, authority, and colonialism. Irony of a Negro Policeman (1981) is one example—a stylized commentary on identity and power.

Another key figure is photographer Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953), who redefined photography as a medium for storytelling and critique. Her series Ain’t Jokin’ revisits racial stereotypes and American cultural memory. In Black Man Holding Watermelon, Weems confronts centuries of racist imagery, reframing it literally through her own lens.

While this was a period of significant achievement, the 2000s also brought setbacks. The aftermath of 9/11 and the economic crash of 2008 led to the closure of many of those Black-owned galleries that had flourished in earlier decades.

Still, the groundwork had been laid. This era set the stage for a new wave of contemporary Black artists who would emerge in the 21st century with a fresh, global perspective.

*This content was created for the ISA 2025 Assets Conference.