Black History Month 2024: Amplifying Artists of Every Age

We're thrilled to shine a spotlight ton Black artists who are making our community thrive! That's why AARP is celebrating the arts in all its forms and the Black artists who create it. Their art keeps us mentally sharp. It connects us and preserves our collective story.

Check out our featured artists below! We'll add more artists as the month goes on

YVONNE KEMP

Yvonne Kemp is one of the first African American female photographers in the city of Milwaukee, as well as the first African American female photographer for the Milwaukee Brewers. Yvonne has also worked for both the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper and the Milwaukee Community Journal.

In addition to holding several contracts with various organizations in Milwaukee, Yvonne is very active in the community. She is a member of A-LEGO (African American Ladies Empowered to Grow Opportunities), the Dare to Dream Foundation, North Division Alumni Association, and the Black Excellence Awards/Louvenia Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

Check out her resume here.

DELLA WELLS

Della Wells (b. 1951) is a Milwaukee-based collage artist. Her work often depicts an imaginary place called “Mambo Land” where Black women possess agency and authority. Composed of intricate elements cut from magazine pages, Wells’s collages become environments where women gather in sisterhood and face the harsh truths of violence and oppression. By understanding the past, her protagonists are able to move ahead in crafting a better future.

Her work has been exhibited in Europe and throughout the United States in contemporary, folk, and self-taught art galleries. Her work can be seen annually at the Outsider Art Fair in New York. A play about her life, Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Fly, was written for a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and was also presented in Wisconsin.

EVELYN PATRICIA TERRY

In her junior year at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Evelyn Patricia Terry learned of the art world from one of her Home Economic Department instructors. Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso dominated the media in the 1960s. Although her art instructors focused on the artwork of predominantly non-Black male artists, her library research revealed unexpected information about African American artists, including women. An enlightening lecture by noted African American artist Faith Ringgold, visiting the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in 1969, led Terry to travel to New York City to meet her in 1970. Terry embraced Ringgold’s activism and free exploration of various art practices, adding her to her initial influencers, Picasso and Warhol. Earning three printmaking degrees (BFA, MS, and MFA) and working as a full-time professional artist since 1985, she freely explores drawing, printmaking, painting, site-specific installations, public art, found object assemblage, bookmaking, and collage. Her award-winning artwork, acquired nationally and in Japan, by private, corporate, university, and museum collections, has been shown widely, including a solo exhibition in Moscow, Russia in two US embassy galleries.

Learn more on her website: http://www.evelynpatriciaterry.com/

DESHEA A.G.

Deshea A.G. is a lyricist and hip-hop artist, known professionally in Milwaukee as Deshea Agee. He has been writing and performing since he was 7 years old. Deshea A.G. has been a quiet voice as a hip-hop artist but is well known in Milwaukee where he has played key roles in revitalizing Milwaukee neighborhoods for over 17 years. He currently serves as Vice President of Emem Group, a firm specializing in real estate development, owner’s representation, and development consulting services, and is releasing a new album soon! Learn more about Deshea A.G. here.