McKenna Museum of African American Art | New Orleans

05/07/2024

Today’s the day! You can donate to the McKenna Museums by clicking the link below:

https://www.givenola.org/themckennamuseums

05/03/2021

Tomorrow is the day. To donate, visit: https://www.givenola.org/themckennamuseums

04/27/2021

We need you all to join us this evening at 4:30 p.m. CST via Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/94264365004) to support the recommended name change of McDonagh #42 to “Mrs. Leah Metoyer McKenna School.”

04/27/2021

Give today>>>>>>www.givenola.org/themckennamuseums

GiveNOLA Day is in ONE WEEK! With a record-breaking 915 nonprofits participating, you can surely find a cause that puts a smile on your face. To learn more and GIVE NOW visit https://bit.ly/2OvnAEQ. is presented by Baptist Community Ministries and powered by Entergy New Orleans.

04/20/2021

Early giving is now open! To support The McKenna Museums, click the link below.

https://www.givenola.org/themckennamuseums

04/19/2021

Early giving starts tomorrow! To support The McKenna Museums, click the link below.

ttps://www.givenola.org/themckennamuseums

GiveNOLA Day early giving opens tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20! Make your gift to one of over 900 local nonprofits starting tomorrow. is presented by Baptist Community Ministries and powered by Entergy New Orleans. Learn more at https://bit.ly/2OvnAEQ

05/25/2020

John T. Scott
American, 1940-2007

A native of New Orleans, Scott’s earliest work drew on Christian religious imagery and classical mythology. By the late 1960s, his sculpture and prints focused on African, African American, Caribbean, and Southern Creole cultures, reflecting their fusion in New Orleans itself. His assemblage style and welding technique were influenced by the playful, but subtly structured dynamics of jazz as well as by dance. From the 1980s onward, with encouragement from the sculptor George Rickey, his half-abstract, boldly painted sculptures in metal and wood included kinetic components.
John Scott was raised in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward, he said that his art training began at home, when he learned embroidery from his mother. In 1992, John was awarded a “genius” grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Scott’s work is essential to the story of Black New Orleans. With a rhythm all his own, his work is captivating, making him one of the greatest African American artists of the 20th century. Using New Orleans as a backdrop, his work is imbued with its rich cultural heritage. Giving his work a style and rhythm that is wholly unique. Part of the George and Leah McKenna Museum mission is to preserve the legacy and culture of Black New Orleans, making his piece essential to our collection both for its artistic quality and its sentimental value as a friend to our founders.

Image: Untitled (Abstract), 1968
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05/11/2020

William Edouard Scott
American, 1884-1964

W.E. Scott painted scenes infused with optimism and hope for Black Americans while rejecting the more common images of them as laborers and/or enslaved. Born in Indianapolis in 1884 Scott displayed a great talent for art from an early age. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago for six years before continuing his training in Europe.
Encouraged by his success in Europe, Scott returned to Chicago just before France declared war on Germany in 1914. He established a studio and though modern and abstract art was gaining popularity, he remained true to his representational style. During this time, African American scholars and activists were attempting to gain equal rights and promote self-pride within the Black community. Scott’s commitment to these goals and his association with the New Negro Movement earned him the title of the “dean of Negro Artists.”
Now Scott is considered one of the most important African American artists of his generation for his work with the “New Negro Movement.” Even though his pieces were never overtly political, he constantly infused Black faces into the American artistic landscape, showing the contributions of Black Americans to the development of global democracy throughout World War I and II.
Placed at key points within the McKenna Museum, Scott’s work, Peace through Victory, America’s Army, and Pacific War Zones #1 and #2, highlight the historic significance of those contributions in leading our country to develop a more equitable society.

Image: America's Army, 1942
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05/04/2020

Jean Sedienberg
American, 1930

Working in New Orleans since 1951, Seidenberg practiced in one of the few American cities disposed to support a full-time figure painter. In the late 1950s, he developed a gesturally charged style. Later, he produced tightly delineated egg tempera works. In the past twenty years, he has cultivated two manners, shifting between densely worked oils, executed from life, and luminous pencil drawings often based on photographic composites. The book in the McKenna’s collection evolved in response to an invitation from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art for an exhibition of work from Seidenberg’s sixty-year career as a practicing fine artist. It became part of the Ogden’s continuing Southern Masters Series.

Image: Charile in the Studioo, 1983

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04/27/2020

Vitus Shell
American, 1978

Shell’s artwork allows aspects of African American history to meet the complexities of African American culture in 2016. His work juxtaposes the eras of African tribes or segregation during the civil rights movement with his keen urban and southern voice. His work can be described as nontraditional, edgy, socially aware, honest, in-your-face, and gutsy as his art mirrors a genuine African American perspective, in terms of the language, style, behaviors, socioeconomic conditions, music, and community. He understands his African American history, and just as important, he knows where it’s headed.
Vitus Shell grew up in the Berg Jones Lane projects in Monroe, Louisiana. Having been surrounded by grit and grime, shiny gold teeth, colorful hairstyles, and project walls, Shell, and thus his art, were easily influenced by everyday life. Despite his unfortunate circumstances, Vitus’ pen and drawing pad, filled with cartoon figures, were his way out when all roads seemed to lead to nowhere. He immediately realized that art would be his only escape. His art teachers noticed his extraordinary talent and encouraged him to submit his artwork to “portfolio day” at his school. He received a scholarship, which allowed him to leave his turbulent environment and expand his horizons, personally and artistically. Years later, he is still baffled by how he didn’t turn out like the “average” kid in the ‘hood and how he didn’t end up with a bullet hole-pierced body or behind prison bars. Now, he proudly shares his story of how art helped him overcome obstacles and defy odds.

Image: I am a Man, 2015

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04/22/2020

Happy Earth Day 🌍

Image: Fuschia by Simmie Knox