BEARING WITNESS: Black Printmakers “Calling Out” America!

In conjunction with the acclaimed exhibition Lester Beall & A New American Identity, Poster House is pleased to partner with the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop for an engaging conversation with esteemed scholar and historian Leslie King Hammond. This presentation reflects on the artistry of African American printmakers in the era of President Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration of 1935 to 1941, work that had a powerful impact on subsequent generations of Black printmakers. Each artist–then and now–sought to create original and truthful prints in their chosen mediums and modalities to “signify on” (or indirectly criticize) the realities of their lives as citizens in the United States.

Leslie King Hammond is an art historian, artist, curator, educator, community innovator, and Professor Emerita, former Dean of Graduate Studies, and Project Director for the Ford Foundation-Philip Morris Fellowships for Artists of Color, and Founding Director of the Center of Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Her board service includes the American Craft Council; the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture; the Collections Committee of the  Walters Art Museum; the Advisory Board of Craft in America’s Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026; and the Advisory Board of AWARE-The Origin of Others. King Hammond has received lifetime achievement awards from the Studio Museum of Harlem; the Women’s Art Caucus of the College Art Association; the Brandywine Workshop and Archives; the Dubois Circle; the James A. Porter Colloquium at Howard University; and the Creative Alliance. The Detroit Institute of Arts has also given her the Alain Locke International Award and MICA has named a Graduate Student Fellowship in her honor.

Accessibility Note: This program will be livestreamed on Poster House’s Youtube Channel. Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive-listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event related questions, please contact info@posterhouse.org.