To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities

This text documents a sampling of paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures owned by Clark Atlanta University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Howard University, North Carolina Central University and Tuskegee University. The book serves as a catalogue for a major exhibition and conservation project organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art and The Studio Museum in Harlem, in association with the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and the six participating Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It documents and discusses a century of art collected by America's HBCUs. The book contains a profile of each university collection, colour reproductions of many artworks, biographical information on the represented artists and documentation of the conservation and care practices helping to preserve the art for future generations. Two essays place the HBCU art collections in a historical context and develop six themes around which the exhibition was organized.