Our Brand Pillars
The Black Artists Archive (BAA) is dedicated to safeguarding the histories, artworks, and cultural contributions of Black artists and communities whose legacies have too often been overlooked, under-documented, or left at risk of loss. Through our Archive Initiatives, we identify, preserve, and activate endangered collections, cultural landmarks, and creative practices that form the backbone of Detroit’s—and America’s—Black cultural history.
Our approach goes beyond preservation. Each initiative is designed to return these histories to the people and places from which they came, ensuring accessibility through exhibitions, digitization, and community-centered programming. Whether rooted in sound, image, or mural, these archives are living legacies that continue to inform and inspire future generations.
Inaugural Archive Initiative
Spearheaded by David Ellis, Vinyl Legacies, BAA’s inaugural archival initiative, focuses on the comprehensive cataloging, digitization, and preservation of The Black Canon’s extensive collection of over 12,000 vinyl records showcasing Black music.
Black Political and Material Culture
The Foy and Emma Lee McCarty Family Collection is a significant archive of Black political and material culture assembled by a working-class Detroit family deeply attuned to the historical moment in which they lived. Foy and Emma Lee McCarty emigrated to Detroit from Lynch, Kentucky, in the 1930s as part of the Great Migration, joining countless Black Southerners seeking opportunity, safety, and self-determination in the industrial North.
Preservation Discussions
A collaborative discussion about preserving the 1979 mural created by the National Conference of Artists, Michigan Chapter, a landmark in Detroit’s Black Arts Movement and a testament to the power of community vision.
Preserving it honors the history of the neighborhood, the artists who created it, and the generations who will inherit its story.
Forthcoming
Liderado por Irma Maribel Guzmán, este proyecto preserva la colección de más de 1,500 artefactos de la Dra. Lucile Cruz Arellano Gajec, protegiendo el patrimonio cultural mexicano e indÃgena de Detroit a través de la digitalización, la preservación y exposiciones centradas en la comunidad.
Spearheaded by Irma Maribel Guzmán, this project preserves Dr. Lucile Cruz Arellano Gajec’s collection of 1,500+ artifacts, safeguarding Detroit’s Mexican and Indigenous cultural heritage through digitization, preservation, and community-centered exhibitions.
The Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd Literary Collection is an important archive of African American poetry, literary periodicals, broadsides, and related printed materials that documents the depth and vitality of Black literary culture in Detroit while situating it within a broader national context.
Collection highlights include early publications by Broadside Press and its founder Dudley Randall, whose work was instrumental in shaping Black poetry and independent Black publishing during the Black Arts Movement, as well as early and representative works by Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd herself.
Set to launch in 2027, DUO is a three-month residency that will support artist/curator pairs exploring experimental and contemporary practices rooted in Black cultural frameworks while drawing from the Archive and the BCI.
