The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection celebrates the achievements and contributions of Black Americans from 1595 to present times. Considered one of the most comprehensive surveys of African American history and culture outside the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition of the same name features the shared treasures amassed by Shirley and Bernard Kinsey during their five decades of marriage. The collection includes masterful paintings and sculptures, photographs, rare books, letters, manuscripts, and more that offer a well-rounded look at the African American experience and provide new perspectives on the nation’s history and culture.

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Learn More

EXPLORE ONLINE

• Engaging the Kinseys: A Conversation with Bernard and Shirley Kinsey
• Engaging the Kinseys: A Conversation with Khalil Kinsey
• Connecting Kinsey and TAM: A History of the Exhibition
• Race & Pedagogy Virtual Talk: The Portrait of “Slim:” Images of Blackness
• Race & Pedagogy Virtual Talk: Documents, Artifacts, Monuments, Buildings
• Race & Pedagogy Virtual Talk: Cultivation as Practice
• BLK WINS: Tacoma, WA
• View The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection on Google Arts and Culture

TAM STORE

• eTceTera  x The Kinsey Collection x TAM Exclusives
• eTceTera  x The Kinsey Collection x TAM: The Story Behind the Merch
• The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey – Where Art and History Intersect (Standard Edition)
• The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey – Where Art and History Intersect (Collector’s Edition)
• Rethinking America’s Past: Voices from the Kinsey African American Art and History Collection

Advisory Committee

The exhibition’s presentation at TAM and related community programming was developed in collaboration with an exhibition advisory committee comprised of 18 Black leaders, artists, educators, and activists from the greater Tacoma area.

Dionne Bonner, Visual Artist; Pastor Gregory Christopher, Shiloh Baptist Church; LaNesha DeBardelaben, Executive Director/Board President – Northwest African American Museum, Association of African American Museums; Tafona Ervin, Executive Director – Foundation for Tacoma Students; Klair Ethridge, Executive Director -Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.); Dexter Gordon, Professor – University of Puget Sound; Moe’Neyah Holland, TAM Teen Art Council Alum; Linda Ishem, Emeritus Senior Lecturer at UW Tacoma School of Urban Studies; Lourdes Jackson, Artist/Designer;  Fahren Johnson, Director of Strategic Initiatives – Greentrike; Kenzie Jones, TAM Teen Art Council Alum; Jackie Jones-Hook, Executive Director – Buffalo Soldiers Museum; Jacqueline Justice, Attorney – Gravis Law, PLLC, TAM Board of Trustees; T’wina Nobles, President and CEO – Tacoma Urban League; Dona Ponepinto, President and CEO – United Way of Pierce County, TAM Board of Trustees; Lyle Quasim, Black Collective; Wayne Williams, Community Advocate; Victoria Woodards, City of Tacoma Mayor

This exhibition is curated by Khalil B. Kinsey and organized by The Bernard & Shirley Kinsey Foundation for Arts & Education and KBK Enterprises, Incorporated.

The exhibition is generously sponsored by:

Our thanks to individual sponsors including Beverly Grant Law Firm, P.S., James Mitchell and Jean Baumgartel, Jim & Rita Knox, Matthew and Kimberly Bergman, Meagan Foley and Neil Gray, Wade and Beth Perrow, Jamie and Sally Will, June A. Mercer, Molly and Joe Regimbal, Neel Parikh, Marydarlene and David Cieszynski, David F. Setford, John Burkhardt & JW Harrington, Lisa & William Holderman, Peter and Janet Stanley, Stephanie and Peter Maurer, Tina Orr-Cahall,  Pamela Transue, and Pamela and Natalie Mayer.

Image credits: (banner) The Cultivators, Samuel L. Dunson, Jr. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; (slideshow) Portrait Bust of an African, May Howard Jackson. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Slow Drag, Ernie Barnes. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Hiram Rhodes Revels, Mathew Brady. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Woman Wearing Orange Scarf, Laura Wheeler Waring. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Poems on Various Subjects-Religious and Moral, Phillis Wheatley. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Untitled. Hale Woodruff. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection; Brown Et Al vs. Board of Education of Topeka Et Al. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection. Copyright for the artwork and the photography of the artwork lies with the artist, their assigns, or the museum. Images are available to view here for educational purposes only and are not for commercial use.