Every year, an extraordinary achiever in the field of African-American art and scholarship is awarded the High Museum’s David C. Driskell Prize, the first such prize in the United States aimed specifically at Black-American art and artists.
This year, the prize goes to Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator at the Guggenheim Foundation and Museum. Described as a “catalytic thinker” by her Guggenheim colleagues, Beckwith has been lauded for her work in surveying important works by lesser-known artists like Howardena Pindell and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and for her scholarship on Black identity in contemporary art.
Beckwith will be celebrated at a High Museum gala on April 26. She joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk about the work that led to this career milestone.
“I realized that the moments in my life when I was the most curious, the most engaged, and had the most fun were those moments with art and artists,” said Beckwith. She continued, “What we need to do is ask ourselves what stories are we not telling and continually push ourselves to be more inclusive.”
More information about the High’s Driskell Prize gala is available here.
