Baltimore Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum to Donate Hip Hop Digital Interactive Archive to Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library

Archive will travel with The Culture exhibition before going to library serving the world’s largest consortium of HBCUs

BALTIMORE, MD (July 6, 2023)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) today announce that “For the Record,” the digital interactive archive launched in conjunction with The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, will find a permanent home at the Atlanta University Center’s (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library following the completion of the exhibition’s international tour in 2025. The AUC Woodruff Library serves the world’s largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)—Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the Interdenominational Theological Center—and is committed to advancing scholarship about the history and global influence of hip hop.

“For the Record” was developed in recognition of hip hop’s deep roots in local community and its global reach to collect, share, and preserve personal stories of hip hop in a living digital interactive archive. The project launched with acclaimed Baltimore-based photographer Devin Allen interviewing local musicians, poets, and writers about their hip hop memories. Since then, more than 200 artists, musicians, fashion designers, actors, and hip hop lovers of all backgrounds and ages have contributed photographs, video, and audio reflections. These submissions document concerts, community gatherings, and memorabilia. Initiated during the exhibition’s presentation in Baltimore from April 5–July 16, 2023, more content will be added as the exhibition travels to subsequent venues. The digital interactive archive provides additional context and perspectives to the more than 90 objects featured in the exhibition that celebrate hip hop’s extraordinary impact on art, fashion, and culture.

Following its presentation in Baltimore, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century will travel to the Saint Louis Art Museum in Missouri (August 19, 2023–January 1, 2024); the Schirn Kunstalle Frankfurt in Germany (February 22–May 26, 2024); the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio (June 28–September 29, 2024); and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada (fall 2024). Additional archive contributions can be made online at theculturearchive.org. Once it arrives at the Woodruff Library, it will enter the digital archives, preserving the public contributions in perpetuity.

Said Loretta Parham, CEO and Director, AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, “Expanding access to these exhibited resources that document hip hop culture is essential. The AUC Woodruff Library is honored to be the recipient of the collection and to provide the care and services necessary to assure that these primary resources are available for research, scholarship, teaching, and general interest.”

“It was very important to us that these personal stories of hip hop history and culture found a permanent home and equally important that they be preserved by an HBCU,” said Verónica Betancourt, BMA Interim Chief Education Officer. “Woodruff Library is a perfect partner as it has a publicly accessible online archive and is dedicated to expanding hip hop scholarship. We are delighted to advance this partnership and thank Woodruff Library leadership for sharing in our vision for this digital collection.”

“We are grateful to the Woodruff Library for recognizing that community and storytelling are central to the ethos of hip hop,” said Andréa Purnell, SLAM’s audience development manager and co-curator of The Culture. “Long after the exhibition closes, the ‘For the Record’ archive will ensure that these personal narratives will live on and continue to inform, educate, and inspire future generations.”

The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century

Sponsors

The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Inc.

Saint Louis Art Museum

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.