Art museums seek to preserve the cultures of the past while also documenting their changes over time. At the museum, history is kept in the present while the works of living artists are collected to look toward the future. Museums show how human history ebbs and flows like the tide, with current events washing over and echoing moments from the past. As you spend time with the works of art in this gallery, consider how they respond to present conditions and historical events, as well as how they might connect to your personal experience.
Importantly, all the artists represented here are people of color, women-identifying, or queer—identities that historically have been underrepresented in museum collections, including those of the Eskenazi Museum. Each of these newly acquired works supports the museum’s mission of encouraging active learning through direct engagement with art from our wide-ranging collection, which spans nearly every art-producing culture throughout history.
