Period
2015
Proposed by
Nato Thompson
Location
Philadelphia
About the project
Envisioned and founded by Vashti DuBois September in 2015, The Colored Girls Museum is a multidisciplinary memoir museum focused on the ordinary colored girl. This three year old institution is established and supported by a diverse collective of community members which include artists, neighbors, friends, educators and students. Situated in a predominantly black working class neighborhood, The Colored Girls Museum, occupies eight rooms of a three story 130 year old Victorian Twin in Germantown Philadelphia, the current home of its founder. Leadership includes Michael Clemmons, museum curator/artist and Ian Friday, Associate Director/Performance Curator. A collective of artists curate spaces, contribute work and engage audiences during weekly tours. The inaugural exhibition, premiered as a part of the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival. The Colored Girls Museum Open For Business debuted “disguised” as a bed and breakfast; thirty artists and community members collaborated to transform an ordinary house into a memoir museum with art and artifacts significant to the colored girl. Subsequent campaigns include: A Good Night’s Sleep 2016’s year-long exhibition and Public Health Campaign; which addressed sleep disparity and its impact on the health of black women, girls and their community; (2) Urgent Care A Social Care Experience which responded to the sense urgency many people felt during and after 2016’s presidential election. The Colored Girls Museum transformed into an alternate healthcare facility; each of her rooms activated by installations, objects and artwork that perform as a healing space, art becomes medicine or the cure, patrons engage with the exhibition as patient and physician. The museum asked the question, how does social care function as a diagnostic tool and what are the implications of the museum as sanctuary.
External links
About the artist
Vashti DuBois, the founder of The Colored Girls Museum, is a theater artist, entrepreneur, and activist with decades of experience working primarily with women and girls of color. This team of three is completed by Michael Clemmons, Museum Curator and Ian Friday, Associate Director/Performance Curator. As Curator for The Colored Girls Museum, Michael holds the narrative of the museum and coordinates exhibition installation. Ian Friday, curates The Colored Girls Museum’s festivals, performance series, creates and produces videos, and museum soundscapes.
