Black Gold

Published to coincide with an exhibition of the same name, Black Gold showcases recent and newly commissioned artworks reflecting on the resilience, struggles, and triumphs of African Americans who lived in California during its early statehood, from the Gold Rush in 1848 to the Reconstruction era.

The project highlights figures and events often omitted from California's history, including the presence of slavery and the struggle for legal rights within this "free" state, the successes of Black entrepreneurs, and the experiences of the African American army regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Black Gold brings together an essay by the exhibitions curator, Cheryl Haines; an artist roundtable discussion moderated by Key Jo Lee, chief of curatorial affairs and public programs, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; new and archival materials addressing California's hidden history of slavery and anti-Black legislation; and texts detailing the contributions of each of the exhibitions artists—including Akea Brionne, Demetri Broxton, Adrian L. Burrell, the artists of Creativity Explored, Adam Davis, Cheryl Derricotte, Carla Edwards, Mildred Howard, Sir Isaac Julien CBE, Tiff Massey, Umar Rashid, Trina Michelle Robinson, Alison Saar, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Bryan Keith Thomas, Cosmo Whyte, and Hank Willis Thomas.

Led by the FOR-SITE Foundation, Black Gold will be on view at San Francisco's historic Fort Point from June 4-November 1, 2025.

For more than 30 years, Cheryl Haines has developed exhibitions and site-specific public programs that have exposed new audiences to contemporary art and advanced the discourse surrounding what she describes as “art about place.” Through her nonprofit organization, FOR-SITE, and her gallery, Haines presents provocative exhibitions by artists working across a wide range of media, as well as public, site-specific commissions on a national scale.