Herbert M. Cole

Herbert M. Cole (professor emeritus). known to many as Skip, (BA Williams College 1957, MA and PhD Columbia University, 1964, 1968) taught African art history (plus Oceanic and Native American) from 1968-2003. He also taught briefly at UCLA and the University of Cape Town, in South Africa.

Cole is author, co-author or editor of eleven books on African arts and 60+ essays and articles. Four years of African field research centered on southeastern Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire. He organized 13 exhibitions of African art at UCLA, UCSB, LACMA, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC. He invited students to collaborate on and write for several of these projects. His most recent book is Maternity: Mothers and Children in African Art, Brussels: Mercatorfonds 2017.

In 2001 Cole received a Leadership Award from the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (the professional body for Africanists), a lifetime achievement honor. Cole continues to publish, and he has been a consultant to museums and private collectors in the US and abroad. For the past 18 years, as Kofi Cole, he has carved miniature works of African art.