Gantt Center Announces Anita N. Bateman, Ph.D. as Vice President, Creative Direction

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture is excited to announce the addition of Anita N. Bateman, Ph.D. as the Vice President of Creative Direction.

Dr. Bateman is an accomplished creative arts professional with over a decade of experience in the fine arts industry, including curating, fundraising campaigns, collections management, and educational leadership. Bateman's academic and curatorial focus is contemporary art with expertise in contemporary African art and art of the African Diaspora.

Dr. Bateman joins the Gantt Center from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where she was the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art from 2021 to 2024. She has held previous curatorial positions at the RISD Museum at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI; the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, MA; and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, NC. Bateman was recently selected for the Villa Albertine Museum Next Generation program, a leadership incubator that fosters collaboration and cultural exchange between French and American curators primed to become future museum directors.

"We are excited to welcome Dr. Anita Bateman to the Gantt," said its president and CEO, Bonita Buford. "Dr. Bateman is a curator, author, and lecturer in art of the African diaspora and we look forward to the tremendous impact that she will have on our institution and in the community."

Dr. Bateman earned a Ph.D. in Art History & Visual Culture from Duke University, a Master of Arts in Art History and Graduate Certificate in African & African American Studies from Duke University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History cum laude from Williams College. She was born and raised in Memphis, TN.

Bateman is the creator of the citywide arts initiative, Black Art Houston and was lead curator for the Houston presentations of Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence and Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American as well as Ernie Barnes's The Sugar Shack; Portrait of Courage: Gentileschi, Wiley and the Story of Judith; Love Languages; and The Obama Portraits Tour at MFAH. Previous curatorial projects include Who Lit the Fire? at Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans; Defying the Shadow at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum; and Beyond Space, co-curated with Carrie Mae Weems at the Carr Center in Detroit. Bateman and Emanuel Admassu are co-editors of Where Is Africa (Center for Art, Research and Alliances). Her writing has been published in Global South Winds: Multipolar Dialogues in Contemporary Art; Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art; the Photographer’s Green Book, the Journal of Black Studies, and several exhibition catalogs.

"To join the Harvey B. Gantt Center during its 50th anniversary means to step into a vibrant community that celebrates and uplifts African American culture," says Bateman. "I'm excited to learn from such a talented team, and to contribute to its mission through groundbreaking programs, exhibitions, and initiatives."

Dr. Bateman took the helm as Vice President of Creative Direction on October 29, 2024, and will lead the creative vision and strategic direction of collections, curatorial services, educational initiatives, marketing, and public programs in addition to key internal and external partnerships of the Gantt Center.

About Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture is a multi-disciplinary arts institution located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1974, the Gantt Center’s mission is to present, preserve and celebrate excellence in the art, history and culture of African-Americans and those of African descent through visual and literary arts, dance music, film, educational programs, theatre productions and community outreach. The Gantt Center features fine art exhibitions from around the world and is home to the nationally celebrated John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art, which was generously donated by Bank of America, and is accessible online.

Named for Charlotte civic leader and former mayor Harvey Bernard Gantt, the Gantt Center is housed in an iconic, award-winning structure designed by architect Philip Freelon, co-designer of the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

Contact
Ingrid Travis James
ingrid@ganttcenter.org
(704) 547-3764

Posted on Thursday, October 31, 2024

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