This will be a single-session, quick introduction to contemporary African American artists. In 2022, Simone Leigh became the first African American woman to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale. Kehinde Wiley has become a household name, with work that could be said to predict the Black Lives Matter movement. Review the work of these artists and others — such as Bisa Butler, Natalie Daies, Kara Walker, and Faith Ringgold — focusing on how these artists grapple with their heritage through their choice of medium and subject matter.

Instructor: Dr. Heather McCune Bruhn received undergraduate degrees in art history and silkscreen printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University and came to Penn State for her M.A. and Ph.D. (2006) in art history. Her specialty is late Medieval goldsmithwork from Germany, but she has taught multiple survey courses (Prehistoric–Medieval and Renaissance–Modern) both in person and online, developed an interdomain course with Geosciences, and is currently working on a new course. She recently won an Atherton Teaching Award.