Spelman College, the number one HBCU (Historically Black College/University) in the country for the last six years centers itself around its school song “A Choice To Change The World” and it is now in 2018 that they are working on changing their own world, their college campus. Spelman is most notably known for producing the world’s future traditional professionals in fields. However, the all-girls campus is now moving in the Liberal Arts direction in attempts to include and support their current/future creative major students.
This September Spelman announced that they have been awarded a $5.4 Million dollar grant from the Walton Family Foundation to fund an Art History Major and Curatorial minor program. Said programs are in place to bridge the gap between students of color and the museum curating and directing field. While Spelman is the main recipient of this grant, the programs will be open to the Atlanta University Center that houses Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College. The inclusive program hopes to reach and teach the best the AUC has to offer and create a pipeline of black creatives addicted to working in their field, as well as diversifying it.
Detailed aspects of the grant and its aim are as follows:
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Scholarships for AUC students to incentivize their enrollment in the Art History major and Curatorial Studies minor and for Art History majors to minor in fields such as business and technology.
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Opportunities for hands-on experiences through paid internships at major museums, archives and other cultural institutions across the country.
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Hiring a distinguished visiting professor/director, a visiting associate professor of art history and curator-in-residence.
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A 2019 lecture series, featuring at least three guest lecturers who will deliver public lectures in the field of art history and museum professions on all three campuses.
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An intensive summer program for high school students, starting in 2019, to cultivate a pipeline of talented, diverse students interested in pursuing museum careers.
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Bringing in guest faculty members in art history for each academic year.
Being an Atlanta University Center student, at the illustrious Clark Atlanta University offers me a unique perspective and appreciation of the grant because it supports inclusion within the AUC. Too often creative students at Spelman and Morehouse college are bound to the limitations and traditions that encompass their campuses. The degrees received at Spelman and Morehouse hold volumes in the professional world although a majority of their most creative alum receive full creative teachings from cross-registering at Clark Atlanta. Because of this, the AUC is a significant space of support offering room for growth and assistance at each institution. However, cross registering should not be an expectation for a Spelman Woman or a Man of Morehouse in order to fulfil their creative desires. This grant is a big step into a modern movement in sectors of the AUC that have been strictly corporate and traditional for far too long, this grant is a choice to change the world as we know it.