Description

The Staten Island Museum (SIM) seeks funding for the conservation of three paintings by the African American artist Clementine Hunter (1886-1988) included in the museum’s on-line exhibition 140 Objects, created for its 140th anniversary celebration. This modest grant arose out of conversations regarding opportunities offered by the SIM’s permanent collection for the presentation of works by diverse and previously overlooked artists. The project was originally to have included activities related to Native American holdings, but that work is being postponed as SIM’s conversations with Lenape constituencies evolve.
In response to the enthusiastic public response to the on-line presentation of the Clementine Hunter paintings, which have had little exposure since coming to SIM as a gift in 1982, has inspired the museum an installation of the paintings as part of its March 2022 Black History Month programming. Rapid conservation is required to make that possible. SIM has sought the services of a contract conservator to treat the three works (treatments are outlined and detailed in an attached document). The three paintings (Threshing Pecans, Zinnias Looking at You, and Picking Cotton) will remain on view at the museum through February 2023.
Born in Louisiana, Clementine Hunter worked for much of her life as a field hand harvesting cotton and pecans on the region’s plantations. In 1939, while working as a housekeeper at the Melrose Plantation in the Cane River region near Natchitoches, she began painting on window shades using the art supplies left by one of the numerous artists who frequented the place. Hunter gained public in 1949, when her paintings were included in an arts and crafts exhibition in New Orleans. She eventually became the first African American artist given a solo exhibition at the museum now known as the New Orleans Museum of Art.
 The presentation of these paintings at SIM over the course of a year will allow it to celebrate the work of this woman artist of color and launch programming deriving from her art and experiences. This effort is aligned with SIM’s DEI goals to create cultural programming that will deepen the museum’s engagement with communities of color. In conjunction with the forthcoming exhibition, SIM has already launched related programming that extends across the disciplines represented by its art, history, and natural science collections: https://www.statenislandmuseum.org/event/lunch-and-learn-the-pecan/