At the Vanguard: Clark Atlanta University Art Museum Brings HBCU History and Culture to the Forefront

For generations, historically Black colleges and universities have been more than places of learning. They have been archives of Black life, centers of artistic expression, and institutions entrusted with preserving stories that connect generations.

This fall, the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum will examine that legacy through “At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs,” on view September 17 through December 11, 2026. The exhibition brings together work and stories from five HBCUs: Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Jackson State University, Texas Southern University, and Tuskegee University.

“At the Vanguard” is a collaboration between the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It is part of the HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium Initiative, made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and a bequest from Dr. Beryl Carter Rice.

Clark Atlanta University is the first partner institution to host the traveling exhibition as a member of the inaugural HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium, a Smithsonian initiative focused on expanding access to HBCU collections and cultural heritage.

Through the exhibition and a series of public programs, the CAU Art Museum will invite visitors to consider not only what has been preserved but who has carried that responsibility forward.

Opening the Conversation

The exhibition’s first public program, “Making At the Vanguard: The Past and Futures of Black History Keeping,” will take place Friday, September 18, from 6 to 7 p.m.

CAU Art Museum Director Dr. Danille Taylor and the Digital Humanities Program Manager will join leaders from the National Museum of African American History and Culture for a conversation about the development of “At the Vanguard” and the work of the HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium (HBCU HACAC).

HBCU HACAC participants will include Shanita Brackett, acting director; Auntaneshia Staveloz, acting director of Strategic Partnerships; and Dr. Joanne Hyppolite, assistant director of Culture in the Office of Curatorial Affairs.

The discussion will offer insight into the collaboration behind the exhibition and the evolving practices used to document and make Black history accessible.

The People Behind the Preservation

On Saturday, October 24, at 1 p.m., “Memory Working: HBCU Alumni in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM)” will turn the focus to the professionals doing this work today.

Moderated by Williams, the conversation will feature HBCU alumni whose careers span libraries, museums, archives, and cultural institutions. Panelists include Dr. Kimberley Bugg, CEO and library director of the AUC Woodruff Library; Dr. Meredith Evans, director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration; Dr. Clint Fluker, senior director of Culture, Community, and Partner Engagement at Emory University’s Rose Library; and LaStarsha McGarity, conservator and co-director of the Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University.

The panel will explore how collecting, conserving, interpreting, and sharing cultural materials shape the ways Black history is understood.

For CAU, the conversation offers another view of the HBCU experience: the influence of an HBCU education can extend far beyond graduation, with alumni becoming stewards of history within the very institutions that preserve it.

Murals as Historical Record

The final program, “Infinite Pasts and Ancestral Futures: The Murals of Hale Woodruff and John Biggers,” will take place Saturday, December 5, at 1 p.m.

CAU Art Museum Special Projects Curator Clarke Brown will join Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, art historian and director of the University Museum at Texas Southern University, to examine the work of two influential figures in Black muralism.

The discussion will consider how Woodruff and Biggers drew from the African diaspora and 20th-century Mexican muralism to create monumental works centered on Black history and heritage.

Their murals also provide a fitting lens for the exhibition itself. Created on a scale that commands public spaces, these works demonstrate how art can document history while shaping how communities see themselves.

Visit the Exhibition

Together, the exhibition and its public programs offer a look at the many ways HBCUs have helped create, preserve, and interpret Black cultural history.

For Clark Atlanta University, hosting “At the Vanguard” places the university within a national conversation about the role of HBCUs in cultural stewardship while giving Atlanta audiences an opportunity to engage directly with the collections and histories represented by consortium institutions.

“At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs” will be on view at the CAU Art Museum from September 17 through December 11, 2026. The museum is located in Trevor Arnett Hall, Second Floor, 223 James P. Brawley Drive, Southwest, Atlanta, Georgia. All public programs are free and open to the public.

The exhibition is supported by CBRE, Google Arts & Culture, Johnson & Johnson, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Corporate Leadership Council, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Members, Southern Company Foundation, The TJX Companies, Inc., and TOYOTA.