Description

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM) will present the first Boston-based exhibition of the African American artist Allan Rohan Crite (1910-2007), whose lifelong connection to the museum spanned from sketching sessions as child to a lecture he delivered there in the 1990s. Little-known today, Crite produced paintings that recorded and celebrated the Black communities of Roxbury and the South End, and ultimately grappled with the gentrification of the neighborhoods. The exhibition will foreground the artist’s least well-known paintings and prints: religious subjects inspired in part by works in the Gardner’s collections. In keeping with ISGM’s inclusive practices, the project team will partner with Black scholars, artists, and community members, to explore Crite’s role and influence in the city and its Black neighborhoods, and the eclectic “home museum” he styled under the influence of Gardner’s own. The accompanying catalogue will be the first major publication on the artist. HBCU museum venues will be sought for the exhibition tour. 
This grant aligns with the AAP strategic goal 1a: To advance innovative museum projects that prioritize representation and equity through the preservation, study, and presentation of work by under-represented artists of color, collaborations with diverse external partners, and outreach to underserved communities.