CAAM deputy director wins national prize for African American art history

For her contributions to the preservation of African American art, the deputy director of the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, Naima Keith, has been awarded the 2017 David C. Driskell Prize.

The Driskell Prize, from the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, is the first award to recognize entry- or mid-level career artists and scholars who have made important contributions to African American art or art history. Established in 2005, it’s named after the artist and African American art scholar and comes with a $25,000 award.

“Like Professor Driskell, I am committed to supporting, exhibiting, and producing scholarship about artists of the African Diaspora,” Keith said by email.

“With the support of the award, I will carry on my work at the California African American Museum, where I am overseeing an array of strategic initiatives, as well as critical interventions that examine African American art, history, and culture, and also redefine the contours of American art and history in general.”