Reimagining African American Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts

Nov 10, 2025

The Detroit Institute of Arts museum has reinstalled their African American Art collection in a prominent section of the museum, right next to the Rivera Court. Known as Reimagining African American Art, thisexhibit uses painting and sculpture as an eye-catching vehicle to guide audiences through the complexities of African American history and culture. It contains works from the 1800s through the 1980s. The chronological layout of the exhibit beckons viewers through time, highlighting how the changing material conditions of Black people throughout the centuries affected artistic practices.

Reimagining African American Art contains works by notable artists such as Hale Woodruff, Augusta Savage, and Robert S. Duncanson, among other talented creators. Wadsworth Jarrell’s 1972 color screenprint of Angela Davis, Revolutionary, is featured in one of the rooms.

With a variety of figurative and abstract works, the exhibit displays the breadth of African American visual art. Many works were created in order to overtly address the political realities of Black personhood and combat the many white supremacist images of Black people which infected visual culture.

The gallery also displays many works which seem more principally aimed at exploring abstract form and color. Detroit Artist Allie McGhee’s 1967 “Black Attack” utilizes an abstract expressionist style and depicts a self-determined image of one of the many rebellions against racism during the ‘60s. McGhee’s work is one of many works of art on display produced during the Black Arts movement, accompanied by works born of the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights era.

Entrance to the museum is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties.