 |
They're an unlikely pair. Lowery Stokes Sims, 52, is mild-mannered and analytical; Thelma Golden, 34, is ambitious with a confrontational streak. But between them they've turned the Studio Museum in Harlem -- the sleepy 33-year-old institution formerly known for its feel-good, unambitious surveys of black artists -- into the cultural jewel in the crown of the new Harlem renaissance. "They've brought the institution to life," says Lisa Philips, director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. "Their presence has really enhanced our standing," agrees Darren Walker, CEO of Harlem's Abyssinian Development Corporation. "The sum of the two is extraordinarily powerful." Since joining the museum in January 2000, Sims, as the museum's director, and Golden, as chief curator, have boosted its art-world cred -- "Freestyle," a sprawling survey of young black artists, was one of the biggest museum hits of the year -- while nurturing its grassroots connections to the community. "We are sitting on this incredible history that this museum has built around African-American art, one that still has to be written in different ways," says Golden. "People have been genuinely excited because it so needed to happen." Sims says simply: "It was the right time to come to Harlem."
Email
Print
Eight Year-End Films Vie for Oscar Contention
Sondheim and Lansbury on a Lifetime in Theater
The Black Keys Release Their Hip-hop Debut 
How the BQE Became an Artistic Muse
On Great Jones Street, Shopping Is Art 
Classic Fare, Old-world Charm at Le Caprice
Buy a Brownstone for Less Than $1 Million
Fifty of the City's Tastiest Soups
Reasons to Love New York 2009
New York Politicians Refuse to Quit
A-Rod Has Babe Ruth in His Sights
McCain Yields to the Party's Pressure
