Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
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Ongoing Exhibition
This long-term exhibition serves as the central experience of our museum. The 22,000 square-foot exhibition space contains more than 20 galleries that allow patrons to travel over time and across geographic boundaries. The journey begins in Africa, the cradle of human life... Click here to read more »
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February 3 - June 3, 2012
Organized and sponsored by Bank of America, Mixing Metaphors is an exhibition composed of more than 90 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works by 36 artists including Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. The exhibition draws its inspiration from the different artists' visions and their use of technique to convey compelling stories. Click here to read more »
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January 13 - April 1, 2012
Created in partnership with Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts to prelude the arrival of the Broadway smash musical, Fela!, this exhibition celebrates the life and music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a dynamic figure who transcended the boundaries of political expectation and culturally coerced standards of morality. His undying passion for African peoples, understanding of the power of art and politics, and unyielding struggle against the colonial forces in Nigeria during the 1950s and 1960s, solidified his legacy as a shimmering agent of change against the status quo ... Click here to read more »
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February 1 - 27, 2012
This traveling exhibit showcasing the history of housing segregation in Detroit provides a powerful backdrop for local dialogue on issues of difference, structural discrimination and immigration. Through reproductions of historic documents and photographs, viewers will learn about the causes and effects of residential segregation.
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April 7, 2011 - April 29, 2012
Chris Webber, Detroit native, National Basketball Association All-Star player (retired) and NBA announcer, collects rare artifacts that illuminate the lives and legacies of African American greats such as Phillis Wheatley, the first African American author; Rosa Parks, mother of the modern civil rights movement; civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and many others. Initially, the items were for Webber's personal inspiration. Click here to read more »
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January 12 - April 29, 2012
Great American Artists is an exhibition of new figurative works by artists Christopher Batten, Endia Beal, Halima Cassells, Alonzo Edwards, Sydney James, Gregory Johnson, Richard Lewis, Mario Moore, Sabrina Nelson and Senghor Reid. Click here to read more »
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June 14 - September 9, 2012
Experience the art of Jerry Pinkney, a master of the American picture book whose powerful, heart-warming stories reflect personal and cultural themes, and explore the African-American experience in words and pictures. This exhibition, celebrating an artistic journey that has continued for 50 years, offers memorable perspectives on life's small but extraordinary moments and on significant historical events that are brought into focus through his art. Click here to read more »
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Ongoing Exhibition
Twenty-six interactive stations make up a three-dimensional "dictionary" designed for children from pre-school through fourth grade in A is for Africa. Organized by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, this long-term installation introduces young visitors to an array of interesting persons, places, events, ideas, foods and objects important to understanding the histories and cultures of Africa... Click here to read more »
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Ongoing Exhibition
Located on the floor of the Ford Freedom Rotunda, is Genealogy, a work designed by artist Hubert Massey. The creation depicts the struggles of African Americans in this country. Each figure is symbolic of an experience, from slavery to present day violence, the hunger for knowledge, the importance of spirituality and the upward mobility of African Americans. Surrounding this 37-foot floor are bronze nameplates of prominent African Americans in history. Each year new names are added to this Ring of Genealogy... Click here to read more »
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Ongoing Exhibition
The works of art included in this long-term installation focus on three areas of African American culture and history. The Musicians celebrates everyday people who have exercised their right to interpret the world as they see it through songs and instruments. Dance and Dancers on the other hand, honors those artists who use their bodies as the medium to express non-verbal emotions, themes and ideas. And Freedom Advocates is dedicated to notable African Americans who fought and died to ensure dignity and freedom for themselves and their people... Click here to read more »
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Ongoing Exhibition
The museum is pleased to present Detroit Performs!, a photomontage dedicated to those who gained national and often international prominence in the performing arts. Although a majority of these artists moved here from other regions, especially the south, they claimed Detroit as their own, usually crediting it as the place where they honed their skills... Click here to read more »
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Previous Exhibitions
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June 16, 2011 - January 16, 2012
Dance Theatre of Harlem has made history in the 40 years since Arthur Mitchell and the late Karel Shook founded it in 1969. This multimedia exhibit captures the majesty of the choreography, the beauty of the costuming, the dancers who defied gravity and stereotyping, plus Mitchell's wide-ranging accomplishments. Click here to read more »
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September 1, 2011 - January 8, 2012
This exhibition features the work of two extraordinary, multifaceted women who are career artists based in Detroit, Michigan. Barbara Brown King's and Carole Morisseau's works of art are presented together in this exhibition because of their natural proclivity to observe and record their perceptions of life in paint. Click here to read more »
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March 31 - December 31, 2011
The Heidelberg Project, founded by artist Tyree Guyton and using art to "provoke thought, promote discussion, inspire action and heal communities..." is recognized as one of the most influential open-air art environments in the world. Guyton uses found objects to create a two-block area full of color symbolism, and intrigue. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Project is recognized internationally as a demonstration of how creativity can transform lives. Click here to read more »
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November 18, 2010 - August 28, 2011
The Test" is an exhibition about the first African American aviators in the U.S. Military in combat in World War Two. The aviators were part of an effort by the War Department to determine if African-Americans had the capabilities to be effective combat aviators. This became known as the "Tuskegee Experiment". In early 1943, the first squadron of black aviators deployed to North Africa to enter combat and to begin critical the test phrase of the "Tuskegee Experiment"... Click here to read more »
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April 21 - August 28, 2011
This exhibition features the work of Asha Walidah and Bill Gosa, fine art photographers who travel the world capturing stunning images that reflect people of African descent in Africa and in the western hemisphere. Walidah's and Gosa's separate odysseys have taken them to countries in Africa, islands in the Caribbean, and cities in the United States. Click here to read more »
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January 17 - May 29, 2011
In Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise: An Artist's Journey, Gale Fulton Ross utilizes a multifaceted approach to describe her journey from confusion and despair to self-forgiveness, enlightenment, and artistic freedom. Her first-person visual narrative is loosely based on Dante's Divine Comedy, an epic poem written in the 12th century. Like the protagonist in Dante's poem, trusted historical luminaries, Aunt Jemima and Sojourner Truth, guide Ross through the inferno of Hell, the misery of Purgatory, and the ecstasy of Paradise. Click here to read more »
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December 17, 2010 - April 11, 2011
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Contemporary Artists Program is pleased to present the Framed Stories of Carmen Johnson, currently living in Antonio, Texas and Jerome Wright, currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The artists were paired together in this two-person exhibition because they have several artistic similarities: they are largely self-trained, they enjoy creating narrative art, and they demonstrate postmodern sensibilities. Click here to read more »
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January 18, 2010 - March 13, 2011
Crowning Glories is a tribute to the beauty, style, and self-expression of black women, and a historical survey of their hat-wearing traditions from the late 1700s to the present. The tradition of African American women adorning themselves with extraordinary headwear goes back generations. Wrapping one's head with cloth, for example, finds its roots among West African women. This practice, which survived the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, continues to be part of black women's cultural heritage in the United States and throughout the Americas... Click here to read more »
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September 24, 2010 - March 13, 2011
Organized by The Michigan Chapter of the National Conference of Artists, Art of the Masters: A Survey of African American Images is presented in accordance with the mission and traditions of the NCA — to introduce the works of African American "Master" artists to the world. Included are works of art created by those who made significant contributions to the discipline from 1980-2000. Click here to read more »
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February 21 - March 5, 2011
THEM: Images of Separation is a traveling exhibition showcasing items from popular culture used to stereotype different groups. The negative imagery - found on postcards, license plates, games, souvenirs and costumes - promoted stereotyping against such groups as Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and poor whites, as well as those who are "other" in terms of body type or sexual orientation. Through 35 separate framed pieces (some with multiple items, such as postcards), "THEM" tackles some of the most contentious, cultural hot-button issues: anti-Arab sentiment, Holocaust denial, "don't ask, don't tell" and immigration. Click here to read more »
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October 1, 2010 - January 2, 2011
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Harlem's Apollo Theater the Smithsonian presents Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment. The exhibition traces the evolution of the Apollo—from its origins as a segregated burlesque hall to its starring role at the epicenter of African American entertainment and American popular culture. Click here to read more »
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August 6, 2009 - September 15, 2010
This comprehensive exhibition on the life of an iconic Detroit native is a must for sports fans everywhere. Born the son of an Alabama cotton picker, Joe Louis, known to many as the African American heavyweight champion named the "Brown Bomber," became a national hero and symbol of American democracy versus Nazi intolerance. Muhammad Ali said of Joe Louis, "I just give lip service to being the greatest. He was the greatest." The sportswriter, Jimmy Cannon, summed the Brown Bomber up best when he wrote; "He was a credit to his race – the human race." Click here to read more »
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November 15, 2009 - September 9, 2010
Who Am I? My DNA Diary is an exhibition of National Geographic and IBM's Genographic Project in tandem with Lucy, The Story of Human Origins from the International Museum Institute of New York. This double feature challenges preexisting notions of race and ethnicity by showing that the more we understand "the collective journey of humankind, the more likely we are to see each other as members of the same extended family." Click here to read more »
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April 16 - August 22, 2010
The works of art created by the artists featured in Celebrating the Figure are strikingly different from each other in several ways. Each artist has his or her own style, medium, and palette. Mychael Shane is a scratchboard artist who uses a multiplicity of lines to create stark black and white images. Zeina Carla Washington is a mixed-media artist whose paintings are created with vibrant colors. Illustration artist, Denemours L. Lockeet, uses pencils to create... Click here to read more »
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August 27 - December 12, 2010
Organized by the Contemporary Artist Program of the Charles H. Wright Museum, Portrayals of Life and Landscapes: The Art of Frank Kelley, Jr. features more than 30 of Kelley's paintings. His art incorporates numerous styles and subjects. Primarily a regional painter, he draws upon sources from his roots in North Central Louisiana. The people, places, and events that he experienced while growing up in this culturally rich area.... Click here to read more »
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