S2 | E5 | WEST COAST EDITION

Karen Seneferu

CURATOR & COMMUNITY BUILDER

Hear more from Karen on claiming her identity as an artist, how she’s creating space for other black female artists with her curatorial project The Black Woman Is God, and transforming personal loss into giving back to her community.

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The Black Woman is God
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Karen Seneferu

See more of Karen's project at theblackwomanisgod.com, and on Instagram at @tbwig and @karen_seneferu

RESOURCES

Artwork Archive — This episode’s podcast sponsor, an online platform that manages all aspects of your career including art inventory and sales. Beyond the Studio listeners get 20% off when they get started with their free trial on www.artworkarchive.com/beyond

The Black Woman Is God — Series of exhibits, co-curated by Karen, celebrating the Black female presence with over 60 intergenerational artists

Black Panther Party — Influenced Karen while growing up in East Oakland in the ‘60s, while attending their Free Breakfast for Children Program

People’s Collective Party (People’s Kitchen Collective) — Oakland based series of breakfast celebrations that acknowledge and honor those contributing to Oakland’s art and culture

The Autobiography of Malcolm X — Influential read that led Karen to reclaim her body and reconnect with her history while shaping a new understanding of concepts around beauty

Robert Henry Johnson — Choreographer, poet, and writer out of San Francisco

Toni Morrison — Author

University of California at Berkeley — Where Karen earned her B.A. in English

Malik Seneferu — Artist and Karen’s husband

TheArthur Wright — Painter

Rae Louise Hayward — Curator of The Art of Living Black annual exhibit at the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, CA

African American Art & Culture Complex — Where Karen was first invited to exhibit her work solo but eventually transformed into the idea for The Black Woman is God

Melorra Green — Co-curator of The Black Woman is God

London Breed — Current Mayor of San Francisco and former Executive Director of African American Art & Culture Complex (AAAC)

A few locations The Black Woman is God has been featured:



 

A few artists included in The Black Woman is God exhibits:

California African American Museum (CAAM) — Where Karen has exhibited her work, at the suggestion of Milton Bowens

Skirball Cultural Center — Where Karen has exhibited her work, curator Michelle Elizabeth Lee

Colette Eloi — Haitian dancer at SOMARTS

Vera Nobles — Bay Area scholar, married to scholar Dr. Wade Nobles

Kerry James Marshall — Artist

Random Acts of Flyness — HBO show

Maria Jenson — Executive Director of SOMARTS

Zellerbach Family Foundation — Fiscal supporter of The Black Woman is God

Akonadi Foundation — Fiscal supporter of The Black Woman is God