She turned her home into the Colored Girls Museum. To save it, she had to move.
TCGM's latest exhibit, "The Intermission," asks: What does the Colored Girls Museum look like if the colored girl no longer lives there?
For eight years, Vashti DuBois, executive director of the Colored Girls Museum, escorted visitors through her Germantown home, introducing them to a myriad of colorful paintings, collages, fiber arts, books, and sculptures that celebrated the lives of ordinary Black women.
In January, Philadelphia granted a variance, rezoning DuBois’ home on Newhall Street so it could be used as a library and cultural institution. The variance allowed the museum to stay open. DuBois, however, had to move.
It wasn’t easy. DuBois had lived in the three-story Victorian twin for more than 20 years. She raised her family and mourned her husband there. That “lived-in” energy is part of what made the museum so special and it could be felt throughout the three-story house museum.
DuBois now lives in another house on the same block, so she can continue to host weekend tours at the Colored Girls Museum. The art, furniture, and artifacts that were there when she called the twin home belong to the museum now.
But the living energy — the soul of the home — is gone.
The museum’s 11th and longest-running exhibition, “The Intermission,” is up through early 2026 and considers what a colored girls museum might look and feel like when the colored girl no longer lives there.
“For almost nine years, the Colored Girls Museum has been a show about a house that performs as a memoir museum,” DuBois said. “The variance marked the end of Act I.”
“The Intermission” should be viewed like an intermission in a theater production. During the next 18 months, the exhibits will change over time and visitors can see the new artistic work through multiple in-person visits and on social media. DuBois enlisted Philadelphia artists to curate three of the rooms. These community curators, DuBois says, “are charged with holding these spaces sacred because the colored girl is no longer here to hold them. They are performing as the museum’s caregivers.”
Ceramic and landscape artist Syd Carpenter curated the garden and walkway. The exhibit in the Colored Boys’ Room, “Whispers of a Black Boy,” from artist, painter, and personal stylist Terrell Maurice, is an homage to Maurice’s late grandmother.
Painter, collage artist, and Pennsylvania of Fine Arts MFA grad Jazlyne Sabree is responsible for the design of the Colored Girls Room. Her exhibit, “The Healing Shrine,” speaks to the loss of soulmates, loved ones and their transition to becoming ancestors.
The works of Philadelphia-based painters Shanina Dionna, fiber and collage artist Toni Kersey, painter and muralist Martryce Roach, and fiber artist Debra Powell-Wright are showcased throughout “The Intermission.”
Unlike the buzz of previous shows at the museum, “The Intermission” is a quiet affair. The familiar scent of sage and sweet grass wafts through the museum, while the need to exhale takes over as soon as you hear the wind chimes and cross her threshold.
“Life used to be lived here and now it’s quiet,” DuBois said. “This show presents us with an opportunity to consider what might be lost or gained from a home to just strictly a museum.”
The Colored Girls Museum is located at 4613 Newhall St. in Germantown. Hours are Saturdays noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are available here: TCGM tours. The Colored Girls Museum welcomes groups of 10 or more Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays by appointment only. Email: thecoloredgirlsmuseum@gmail.com.