4 Inspiring Black Art Museums You Must‑See to Celebrate Black History Month
During Black History Month, it’s important to visit Black art museums, complete with the work of artists who’ve contributed immensely to their culture and to the canon of American art. In the late 1970s, Black artists finally experienced a greater presence and inclusion within museum programs. Before the 1950s, museums, particularly in the South, designated separate days for Black Americans to view artifacts and artwork. After protests by the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), things changed for the better.
Today, there are increasingly nuanced and comprehensive Black art exhibits that introduce concepts, such as Black Power, Afrofuturism, Negritude, and the dilemmas of Blackness. Here are four must-see Black Art exhibitions for Black History Month.
1.) “Tom Lloyd” Studio Museum in Harlem
Tom Lloyd (1929-1996) was a sculptor who combined activism with art, and this Harlem museum is dedicated to his work. The Studio Museum opened its doors in 1968 with a solo exhibition devoted to Lloyd’s light sculptures, which were groundbreaking electronically programmed artworks. Lloyd began crafting these in 1965 while collaborating with other Black artists.
In 1971, Lloyd exposed his Queens neighborhood to culture and Black Art by opening the Store Front Museum/Paul Robeson Theatre. “Tom Lloyd” is a presentation of twenty Lloyd artworks, including wall reliefs made of paper and metal, a collection of his electronic light sculptures, and documentation of Lloyd’s activism from 1969-1971, in which he advocated for more museum programming inclusivity. This exhibition is open until March 22.
2.) “Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity,” New Orleans Museum of Art
Hayward J. Oubre Jr. (1916-2006) created modernist coat hanger sculptures in the 1950s. By including Oubre, the New Orleans Museum of Art expands American modernism while highlighting a lesser-known artist. Oubre was born in New Orleans and attended Dillard University, becoming its first art major; his postgraduate studies were at Atlanta University, where he studied under noted Black artists, such as Hale Woodruff and Nancy Elizabeth Prophet.
Oubre obtained a master’s degree from the University of Iowa and taught at several historically black colleges. He started a studio art program at Winston-Salem State University. Oubre’s work includes prints, paintings, and his wire sculptures. This Black art exhibit features over fifty of Oubre’s unique pieces created during his military service, activism in the Civil Rights Movement, and work as an educator. This exhibition will be shown until May 3.
3.) “Sistah Griot: The Iconoclastic Art of Barbara Bullock,” First Art Museum in Nashville
Barbara Bullock (1949-1996) was a student of art at George Peabody College for Teachers, which has now merged with Vanderbilt University. Bullock survived a stroke at thirty-five and returned to art. Painting and drawing not only helped her regain fine motor skills and lost vision, but she also used her art to critique social problems like sexism, classism, and racism.
Bullock’s 1993 “Gathering” addresses the social expectations placed on upper-class Black women. Active in the Nashville art scene, she was known affectionately as a “griot,” or storyteller, in the West African language. Bullock had a strong influence on Nashville’s women artists. Her exhibition features forty pieces, part of the 2026 Tennessee Triennial, which celebrates the state’s contemporary artists. This impressive Black art exhibit is open until April 26; you’ll want to make this a stop.
4.) “Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
As a product of the Black Arts Movement in Boston, the African American Master Artists-in-Residency program was created by activist, educator, and artist Dana C. Chandler Jr. (1941-2025). In 1977 at Northeastern University. Chandler intersected community, art, and activism in this program created to inspire Black art and talent in the performing and visual arts.
Over forty years later, it continues to function as an African diasporic center for cultural development, providing space for studios, concerts, workshops, and exhibits. “Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now” is worth seeing as you get a close look at the program’s history through thirty-nine artists and over fifty works in all media. This exhibition lasts until Aug. 2.
February is Black History Month
Black History Month 2026 is almost over, but there’s still time to visit one of these four art exhibits to experience culture and the talents of Black artists. Many other museums throughout the country feature Black art, especially this month. The Tom Lloyd, Hayward Ombre, Barbara Bullock, and AAMARP exhibitions are great ones to visit before the end of February. As Artist Romare Bearden once stated, “Black art has always existed. It just hasn’t been looked for in the right places.”
