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Philadelphia Museum of Art to establish new center for African art

Endowed by museum trustee Ira Brind, the new center will help the museum exhibit and expand its collection of "under-programmed" art from Africa and its diaspora.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will open a center dedicated to African and African diasporic art, which will be endowed by museum trustee Ira Brind. Pictured (from left) are deputy director and chief curator Carlos Basualdo, Brind, director Sasha Suda, and Alphonso Atkins, the museum's director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will open a center dedicated to African and African diasporic art, which will be endowed by museum trustee Ira Brind. Pictured (from left) are deputy director and chief curator Carlos Basualdo, Brind, director Sasha Suda, and Alphonso Atkins, the museum's director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.Read moreAlbert Yee

The Philadelphia Museum of Art plans to create a new center dedicated to the history and influence of African art, the museum announced Thursday. The center, endowed by trustee Ira Brind, will be dedicated to the acquisition, care, and study of art of the continent and its diaspora.

The Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art also will broaden PMA’s curatorial lens and make the institution a more well-rounded hub for art history, Brind says.

“I am thrilled to support a dynamic field of art history that has important connections to the city of Philadelphia and the global art world,” Brind said in a statement. “The stories we tell through art, and the diversity of our collection, matters. I am particularly excited to share the collection and its history with the area’s diverse population.”

Art Museum director and CEO Sasha Suda said Brind’s gift speaks to his commitment to make the museum a more “inclusive collecting and programmed institution.” It’s a vision he’s had for some time.

“[Brind] came to me with this idea on the fourth day of my time here as something that he’d been long wanting to do,” said Suda, who was appointed museum director in June 2022.

No further details on the endowment or the opening of the center were provided, but Suda said a global search for a curatorial director and assistant curator for the center will begin soon.

The museum will also establish a fellowship program to train graduate students in the expanding field of African and African diasporic art.

With Brind’s support, Suda said the museum will have the funding to expand its current collection of art from Africa and the African diaspora, which has been carefully stored but largely “under-programmed” in the past.

Along with adding artifacts and contemporary art pieces, the museum will organize gallery installations, special exhibitions, public programs, and other events inside the devoted gallery space.

“It’s an amazing sign for what the future holds for the PMA,” Suda said. “I think that it demonstrates how committed our family of PMA supporters are to really serve the city of Philadelphia and being true to the idea that we’re an encyclopedia institution.”

For more information, visit philamuseum.org