About the World Art Collection
The World Art Collection at Mesa College was initially assembled to introduce Mesa College students to art created for use in Africa. Today, the collection has grown to include pieces from India, MesoAmerica and the Pacific. It is a valued resource for students studying the visual arts, anthropology, Black Studies, and other Humanities courses.
Dr. Barbara Winston Blackmun established the collection for the college in the late 1970s. Art Historian Dr. Denise Rogers replaced Dr. Blackmun upon her retirement in 2010 and currently manages the collection. The collection has continued to grow over the years and currently, there are over 1300 pieces in the collection.
Each Semester, Dr. Rogers works with students in Art History, Museum Studies, Honors, Black Studies as well as volunteers to exhibit selections from the collection in the Glass Gallery located on the first floor of the campus Learning Resource Center (LRC). The college will occasionally borrow fine pieces from other collectors to present exhibitions with a unified theme for several weeks.
Check out our Online Gallery to view more pieces from the collection.
Exhibitions of the World Art Collection in the LRC Glass Gallery are accessible to all of the Mesa College campus community and the general public. Students taking Visual Arts, Anthropology, History, Black Studies, and other Humanities courses complete assignments concerning the historical periods of the artworks, how they were used, and what roles they played in achieving various cultural goals.
For more information on the collection or for a private tour, contact Dr. Denise Rogers at derogers@sdccd.edu or (619) 388-2371.
World Art Gallery & Research Center
Gallery Inception and Growth
In 1971, Barbara Blackmun inaugurated Mesa College’s first academic transfer course in African art, after returning from five years of teaching Humanities and Art in Malawi, East Africa. Although African crafts and replicas were common, it was difficult for Barbara to find authentic artworks in the San Diego area that had traditional, ritualized use in Africa. To assist her students, Blackmun began accepting a variety of authentic African art objects.
In 1984, Barbara completed her Ph.D. in Art History at UCLA, including a year’s fieldwork in Nigeria. She returned to Mesa and private collectors in the area began donating museum-quality works of African art to the Mesa College Foundation. From 1984 into the mid-1990s, the collection continued to grow thanks to generous gifts from numerous donors; including the carefully-documented African art collection of the late Dr. Jack Kimbrough, donated by his family in 1993.
Community Outreach
In the 1990s, Mesa College developed an outreach program for elementary schools through a grant from the Parker Foundation. Mesa College African art students created a workbook for 4th graders, and visited the schools each semester. The children handled headrests, used “talking drums,” deciphered Adinkra symbols, and created various art projects. A display of artworks from the Mesa College Collection is still maintained at Kimbrough Elementary School. Dr. Blackmun also presented an exhibition each year in a Mesa College Art Department classroom used as a temporary art gallery.
In 2018 and 2019, Dr. Rogers exhibited pieces from the collection at the Monarch School in San Diego, which serves homeless and foster youth.
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Donations
There are many ways to make a gift to support the World Art Collection of San Diego Mesa College. All contributions are welcome from individuals, corporations and foundations. As a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, all contributions to the Mesa College World Art Collection are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Suggested donations include monetary gifts and artwork donations. We are pleased to work with you to achieve your donation goals or to create an endowment.
If you could like to make a donation online to preserve the collection and help with
exhibitions, visit our donation page.
To donate over the phone, call us at 619-388-2371. You may also send your check to:
San Diego Mesa College Foundation - World Art Collection
7250 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111-4998
