The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art Celebrates its 30th Anniversary Season with Two Fall 2025 Exhibitions
The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art will host two exhibitions concurrently during the Fall 2025 semester as the Museum marks its 30th anniversary.
The first exhibition, “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch,” will debut in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center Gallery on September 5. The second, “Repossessions,” will debut as the inaugural exhibition in the new Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts, Bank of America Gallery on October 1.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch
On September 5, the Spelman Museum will host the grand opening of the “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch” exhibition, the first major museum presentation to celebrate the work and legacy of sculptor and former Spelman College instructor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960). The exhibition will be on view September 5 – December 6, 2025, in the Camile Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center Gallery.
Prophet is an underrecognized 20th-century sculptor best known for her contributions to expatriate culture in Paris during the interwar period. Prophet was one of the first known women of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her work reflects the skills she developed through academic training, characterized by a distinctly Modernist sensibility.
"This exhibition is a homecoming for a beloved founding mother of the arts at Spelman and the AUC. Her sculptures will luxuriate on the east side of the gallery, just paces away from her sculpture studio at Spelman,” said Dr. Liz Andrews, executive director of the Spelman Museum. “We, the Spelman Museum and all the artists and art historians at the AUC, are here thanks to the brilliance and dedication of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet.”
The exhibition and catalog draw from historical documents revealing previously unpublished or unknown works of art, providing insight into how she navigated the art world and sought to position her work.
The “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch” exhibition is curated by Sarah Ganz Blythe, former deputy director of Exhibitions, Education, and Programs; Dominic Molon, interim chief curator & Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art; and Kajette Solomon, Museum social equity and inclusion specialist, all at RISD. The presentation at the Spelman Museum is curated by Dr. Andrews and Chaunesti Webb-Johnson, Ph.D., curator of collections at Spelman.
Repossessions
On October 1, the Spelman Museum will host the grand opening for “Repossessions,” the inaugural exhibition in the CI&A’s Bank of America Gallery. The exhibition will be on view October 1, 2025 – May 1, 2026. In Spring 2026, internationally known Atlanta artist Shanequa Gay will unveil a new work of art in celebration of the “Repossessions” exhibition at the Spelman Museum.
“The new gallery in the CI&A will enable the Museum to deepen its commitment to providing rich programming for Atlanta and beyond. It is a powerful testament to President Mary Schmidt Campbell’s vision for the AUC to be a hub for art. The building is a shining manifestation of that commitment to fostering conversations through cultural expression, innovation, and art,” said Dr. Andrews. “In the coming years, visitors to the Spelman Museum will see impactful exhibitions that span both the Cosby and Campbell galleries, as well as shows that run concurrently in the two spaces. The Bank of America Gallery is not just a space for art—it’s a catalyst for education, empowerment, and connection.”
“Repossessions” presents works by artist Chelle Barbour, Marcus Brown, Rodney Ewing, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle (Olomidara Yaya), Curtis Patterson and to be unveiled in the Spring of 2026, a new artwork from Shanequa Gay. Each of the artists transformed objects from enslavement and Jim Crow offered by white families working toward repair.
Using a variety of visual strategies, the artworks commissioned for “Repossessions” contribute to viewers’ understanding of the long aftermath of enslavement and the need for envisioning reparation. The title of the exhibition names the process of giving Black artists possession of historical objects and their facsimiles, allowing them to “repossess” them from white family archives of enslavement, and alter their existence.
“Repossessions” is an indictment of the history of human ownership and its violent, multigenerational, and international legacy that demands to be confronted and reckoned with to this day.
“Repossessions” was commissioned by The Reparations Project and is curated by Bridget R. Cooks, Ph.D., independent curator, scholar, and professor of African American studies and art history at the University of California, Irvine. The exhibition is an initiative of The Reparations Project in collaboration with Reparations4Slavery and originated at the California African American Museum (CAAM). The presentation at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is curated by Brandy Pettijohn, Ph.D. and made possible by the generous support of Sarah Eisner and the Friends of the Museum.