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Arts Intel Report

Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985

James Barnor, Drum cover girl Erlin Ibreck, 1966.

Sept 21, 2025 – Jan 4, 2026
Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20565, USA

“Art is not living. It is a use of living,” the writer and activist Audre Lorde once said. “The artist has the ability to take that living and use it in a certain way, and produce art.” To make art is a privilege, a fact not lost on members of the Black Arts Movement, who in the 1960s and 1970s used poetry, plays, music, paintings, and photographs to express dignity and hope. Photography, especially, was central to the movement because it captured the truth of life as it is lived. This exhibition surveys the Black Arts Movement from 1955 to 1985 and includes works by the renowned artists Romare Bearden, Betye Saar, and Roy DeCarava. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund