In The Shadow of Giants: A Commemorative Evening of Black Contemporary Art will be held on April 27th, 2023 at Harvard University’s Smith Center. The Black Arts Collective has partnered with the estate of acclaimed jazz photographer Chuck Stewart to unveil never-before-seen portraits of American legends such as Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, James Baldwin among others. A curated selection of Stewart’s works will be exhibited in the Smith Center’s Art Wing gallery for a week following the event. The gala will also feature a panel with renowned artists and scholars on the topic of cultural preservation, and student performances, and a presentation of our 2023 Vanguard Award to two notable Black contemporary performers.

Our panelists include Nwaka Onwusa, the VP of Curatorial Affairs and Chief Curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jason Moran, a jazz pianist and Artistic Director for Jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, a 6x Grammy award nominated and 2x Edison award winning trumpet player, and Chad Murdock, a film director, writer, editor, and creative director. Our in-person Vanguard awardee is Tank and the Bangas, a 2x Grammy nominated band. Samara Joy, 2x Grammy award winning jazz vocalist, will be accepting her Vanguard award virtually.

The Black Arts Collective is a student organization that blends affinity and artistry in offering community programming and professional development to Harvard's Black student artists. Since our founding in April 2022, we have amassed over 200 members and collaborated with some of the most major offices and institutions at Harvard — including the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, the Office for the Arts, the Department of English, aand the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.