Gateways: African American art from the Key Collection

About the exhibition

Gateways: African American Art from the Key Collection presents 88 works of art in numerous media from the collection of Eric Key. Key is an arts administrator, curator, investor, and collector with decades of deep involvement with the art world, particularly its ever-evolving relationship with African American artists. Key began collecting African American art in the early nineties, long before the arts industry and society at large began to grant these artists the belated (and still insufficient) recognition they enjoy today.

Over the years, Key has amassed an impressive collection of African American art, with the dual purpose of exploring his own identity as a Black man in America while providing financial support to individual artists. His intent has always been to help preserve America’s Black experience in the arts, and to benefit the many communities of which he has been a part—opening gateways for artists, African Americans, and conversations about race, identity, and America.