Inaugural Gilliam Visiting Artist Program: vanessa german and Eric N. Mack

The Speed Art Museum announces the launch of the Gilliam Visiting Artist Program, a new initiative designed to strengthen engagement with living artists by bringing two artists to Louisville each year to create fellowship and new dialogues with Kentucky artists and community members, culminating in new collaborations and public programming both at the Museum and beyond. The inaugural 2025 Gilliam Visiting Artists will be multi-media artists vanessa german (b. 1976) and Eric N. Mack (b. 1987).

Developed in collaboration with the Sam Gilliam Foundation in recognition of the late artist’s commitment to the city of Louisville where he spent many of his formative years, the initiative also includes the creation of the Sam Gilliam Assistant Curator of Artist Programs, a new full-time position that will work cross-departmentally with the Speed’s Curatorial and Learning, Engagement, and Belonging teams to manage the Gilliam Visiting Artist Program and facilitate programming and relationship-building with artists and communities in the region. Dr. fari nzinga, Curator of African and Native American Collections, and Tyler Blackwell, Curator of Contemporary Art, will work closely with the new Sam Gilliam Assistant Curator to manage the initiative. The Speed is launching an immediate national search to fill the new position. “We are thrilled to be launching this new program that pays tribute to visionary artist Sam Gilliam by bringing artists from around the country to engage with artists and makers in Louisville and Kentucky in addition to our collections, staff, and communities,” said Raphaela Platow, director of the Speed. “A testament to Sam’s support of artists from Kentucky throughout his lifetime, this new program will allow the Speed to deepen our relationships with artists, providing space and resources for creative experimentation and cross-pollination with our community. We are exceptionally grateful for the partnership and generosity of the Sam Gilliam Foundation for recognizing the importance of having visiting artists leading the way in how we as an institution shape relationships with the rich ecosystem of Kentucky-based artists.”

The inaugural Gilliam Visiting Artists will coincide with the third year of the Speed’s Louisville’s Black Avant-Garde exhibition series, which spotlights local, historically significant Black visual artists who were active in the dynamic midcentury Louisville artist collectives in which Gilliam also played a key role. Throughout the artist-driven engagement, Gilliam Visiting Artists will be encouraged to design their own engagements with Kentucky artists and community leaders, allowing space for authentic connection and conversation to manifest outside of their normal studio practice while in residence— simultaneously exploring new facets of their own work and shaping new modes of community involvement. Public programs presented as part of the initiative will take place during the academic year to enable the participation and attendance of students and scholars, including from the University of Louisville, Gilliam’s alma mater.

“It is an honor to work with the Speed Art Museum to establish a program that extends Sam’s legacy and reflects our organizations’ shared missions to uplift diversity and cultural exchange through supporting local artists,” said Annie Gawlak, president of the Sam Gilliam Foundation. “Sam’s practice championed pushing the boundaries of artmaking, and the Gilliam Visiting Artist Program embodies that sentiment by encouraging artists to experiment within their practice and find new sources of inspiration through engagement with the broader Kentucky community.” Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) spent his formative years as an artist in Louisville, supported by the robust midcentury art scene in Louisville, as well as through his studies at the University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute. As a graduate student there, Gilliam cofounded the Gallery Enterprises art collective (1957–61), which included emerging artists such as Bob Thompson and Kenneth Victor Young, as well as local luminaries G. Caliman Coxe, Robert L. Douglas, Fred F. Bond, and Eugenia V. Dunn. In an era defined by the Black struggle for justice and freedom, Gallery Enterprises established a consistently supportive forum and network for artists to showcase their emerging talent. After his move to Washington, D.C., Gilliam frequently returned home to visit family, as well as friends associated with another major art collective: the Louisville Art Workshop (1966–78). The Workshop expanded the legacy of Gallery Enterprises, furthering the impact of Gilliam’s leadership and contributions to the arts in Louisville.

Learn more about this new program and the inaugural visiting artists at this link. 

Interested candidates may apply for the Sam Gilliam Assistant Curator of Artist Programs position at this link.