Dr. Cherise Smith is a professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in American art after 1945, especially as it intersects with the politics of identity, race, and gender. Last year, she was the inaugural Scholar of the Getty Research Institute’s African American Art History Initiative. She is also founding Executive Director of the Art Galleries at Black Studies, which consist of the Christian-Green Gallery and IdeaLab. Cherise previously directed the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and co-directed the Op-Ed Project. Her award-winning recent book, Michael Ray Charles: A Retrospective (University of Texas Press, 2020), surveys Charles’ career, exploring the artist’s “sampling” approach to provocative anti-black stereotypes, as well as his analysis of African American masculinity and sports culture.

Above Credit: Lauren HillaryBelow Credit: UT Press

Above Credit: Lauren Hillary

Below Credit: UT Press