HAVING OUR SAY | MORE FROM THE BLACK ART ECOSYSTEM

Monique Brinkman-Hill

Monique Brinkman Hill

Brinkman Hill is the executive director of the country’s oldest, continuously operating art centers in the country. Founded in 1940, during the WPA, SSCAC,'s mission is to conserve, preserve and promote the legacy and future of Black art and artists.   

"As I reflect on 2026, I see it as a year of possibility—one that carries the potential for transformation. I anticipate that the work emerging from this period will respond to this moment with urgency, clarity, and imagination. Black art has always carried more than aesthetic beauty; it carries memory, witness, and imagination. It captures the present as it unfolds, preserves the past with care and complexity, and expands the conversation forward when silence or erasure threatens to take hold.

Black artists occupy a singular role as both witnesses and visionaries. Through their work, lived experience is documented, dominant narratives are challenged, and new ways of seeing are made possible. In times when truth feels compressed or unstable, artists insist on nuance, humanity, and depth. Their work reminds us that culture is not neutral—it is shaped by context, power, and intention—and that art is often where truth is held when other systems fall short.

This moment also makes clear that recognition alone is not enough. Too often, Black art is celebrated without structural support, asked to carry the weight of history, resistance, and imagination without the resources needed for sustainability. Moving beyond survival toward permanence creates the conditions for artists and the cultural ecosystems that support them to work with intention rather than urgency, to imagine freely rather than defensively.

As a leader and steward in this field, 2026 has sharpened my belief that the future of Black art is sustained by care, trust, and long-term commitment. When Black art is supported with seriousness and stability, it does more than preserve legacy—it shapes what comes next, expands the conversation globally, and ensures that Black cultural leadership remains visible, vital, and enduring."

Executive Director

South Side Community Art Center