Reception and Artist in Conversation | Wendel A. White with Makeda Best

Organized in conjunction with the exhibition Wendel A. White, “Schools for the Colored” and “Manifest” on view at the Gallery through May 31.

Wendel A. White is a photographer and educator who has, for several decades, investigated the complex narratives held within landscapes, objects, and communities. White looks at the often-disconnected histories of Black life and how the ghosts of the past permeate present-day America. His in-depth photographic inquiries are exemplified by his long-term projects, evident in two series Schools for the Colored (2002–2010) and Manifest (2009–present), selections from which are currently on view in the gallery through May 31, 2025. Additionally, is exhibition Manifest: Thirteen Colonies was recently on view at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. White is a Distinguished Professor of Art at Stockton University, NJ, and his work is represented in numerous public collections including National Gallery of Art, DC; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX; & the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, among many others.

With over 25 years of professional experience working in the arts, Makeda Best is currently Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Oakland Museum of California, where she oversees the Curatorial, Collections, and Production departments. A former curator at the Harvard Art Museums, her exhibitions included Time is Now: Photography and Social Change in James Baldwin’s America, Crossing Lines, Constructing Home: Displacement and Belonging in Contemporary Art, Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography Since 1970, and Darrel Ellis: Please Stay Home. The catalog for Devour the Land was awarded 2022 Photography Catalogue of the Year by Aperture/Paris Photo. Her museum-wide project “ReFrame” sought to re-imagine the installation and presentation of the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums. Her exhibition American Job: 1940-2011, is on view at the International Center for Photography through May 5th, 2025. Best has contributed to numerous exhibition catalogs, journals and scholarly publications. She is the author of Elevate the Masses: Alexander Gardner, Photography and Democracy in 19th Century America and co-editor of Conflict and Identity in American Art. Best has also taught at Harvard University, Tufts University, the University of Vermont, and the California College of the Arts. In addition to serving on many juries, panels, and advisory teams, she is a co-founder and current board member of Museums Moving Forward. She holds a MFA from CalArts in Studio Photography and a PhD from Harvard University.