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Writer, performer, and educator, Ajanae Dawkins, is the new Duncanson Artist-in-Residence.

 

The Taft Museum of Art and the Robert S. Duncanson Society welcome writer, performer, and educator, Ajanae Dawkins, as the 2022 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence.

 

About Ajanae Dawkins

Dawkins has performed and has been featured at venues across the country, including opening for the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Taft’s first Duncanson Artist-in-Residence, poet Nikki Giovanni. Her work has been published in the EcoTheo Review, The BreakBeat Poets Black Girl Magic AnthologyThe OffingTinderbox Poetry JournalWinter TangerineThe Blueshift JournalVoicemail PoemsThe Underscore ReviewWord RiotGramma Poetry, and other anthologies and journals. Dawkins’ work has also been featured on For Harriet, Def Jam, and Button Poetry and in EBONY Magazine for the Faces of Frustration: A Year of Racial Protest.

 

Ajanae Dawkins has not only demonstrated her talent with numerous published and performed works, but has garnered national recognition for her craft. Dawkins is the winner of Tinderbox Poetry Journal’s Editors Prize; a finalist for the Cave Canem Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook prize; and a finalist for the Brett Elizabeth Jenkins poetry prize. She is a two-time individual finalist in the Rust Belt regional slam, crowning her as one of the top five poets in the Midwest, twice. She was also a contributing writer for the Theatre LILA of Madison, Wisconsin.

 

Currently, Ajanae Dawkins is a fellow of The Watering Hole writer’s retreat for African American writers and of Pink Door Writing Retreat. She is also an editor for Voicemail Poems, the 2020 Nancy Craig Blackburn Fellow as an MFA candidate at Randolph College, and an Alford Scholar as an M.Div. candidate at Methodist Theological School of Ohio.

Learn More

 

About the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program

 Established in 1986 by the Taft Museum of Art and the Robert S. Duncanson Society, this program honors the achievements of contemporary Black artists working in a variety of disciplines. The program honors the relationship between African American painter Robert S. Duncanson and his patron, Nicholas Longworth, who commissioned Duncanson to paint landscape murals in the foyer of his home, now the Taft Museum of Art.

 

Dawkins will be the 35th artist-in-residence through the program’s long tenure. Residence sponsor: Ohio National Financial Services. Program sponsors: Phyllis McCallum and Steve Jemison. Media support is provided by The Cincinnati Herald and The Voice of Your Customer.

 

Related Article: Meet the 2021 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence

 

The Duncanson Society

The Taft’s Duncanson Artist-in-Residence was established in 1986 by the Robert S. Duncanson Society (founded by Doris Rankin Sells, the late William Joel McCray, and Ruth K. Meyer) to affirm an ongoing African American presence within the structure of the Taft Museum of Art.

 

The program honors the relationship between African American painter Robert S. Duncanson and his patron, Nicholas Longworth, who commissioned Duncanson to paint a series of eight landscape murals in the foyer of his home, now the Taft Museum of Art.

 

Dawkins will be ushering in the residency’s 35th year as a fitting prelude to the completion of the museum’s $12.7 million Bicentennial Infrastructure Project (June 2022), ensuring the preservation of its prized National Historic Landmarks: the Taft historic house and the Duncanson Murals.

 

Related Article: Learn more about Robert S. Duncanson 

 

About the Taft Museum of Art

The Taft Museum of Art is a living landmark tucked away in downtown Cincinnati, where art and history live on the walls—and in the walls. Built around 1820 as a private home for several of Cincinnati’s most prominent citizens, the Taft Museum of Art is now one of the finest small art museums in America and holds National Historic Landmark status for its historic house and Duncanson murals.

 

Throughout our grounds, guests can also always enjoy special exhibitions, the historic outdoor garden, our Museum Shop and Lindner Family Café, events and programming for all ages, and complimentary on-site parking. It is all under one roof, culminating in a one-of-a-kind, multi-sensory experience that puts you at the center of art and history.

 

Related Article: Meet the 2019 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence

 

 

Written by: Crystal Kendrick

 

The Voice of Black Cincinnati is a media company designed to educate, recognize and create opportunities for African Americans. Want to find local news, events, job posting, scholarships and a database of local Black-owned businesses? Visit our homepage, explore other articles, subscribe to our newsletter, like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group and text VOBC to 513-270-3880. 

 

Ajanae Dawkins image provided by Taft Museum of Art

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