Join Elaine Yau, BAMPFA’s new associate curator of the Eli Leon Living Trust Collection of African American Quilts, for Following Rosie Lee Tompkins: Reflections on the Exhibition, a conversation about organizing the current BAMPFA exhibition Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective, the largest presentation of Tompkins’s work to date. The depth and breadth of this acclaimed retrospective—which the New York Times’s Roberta Smith called “triumphal”—reveal Tompkins as a brilliantly inventive quiltmaker and an artist of stunning variety and impact. As cocurator for the exhibition and project manager for the accompanying catalogue, Yau will talk about research discoveries, her experience of viewing nearly four hundred textile pieces, and other surprises and challenges posed by Tompkins’s extraordinary art. 

Before the talk, be sure to check out cocurator Lawrence Rinder’s guided virtual tour of the exhibition.

Elaine Yau is the cocurator, with former BAMPFA Director Lawrence Rinder, of Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective. She was previously the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow at the museum, and she returns this fall as the associate curator of the Eli Leon Living Trust Collection of African American Quilts. A specialist in American art, Yau has published writings on Sister Gertrude Morgan, Minnie Evans, and critical approaches to folk and self-taught art. She soon will begin organizing the second exhibition of quilts from Leon’s historic gift to the museum.

This is the latest installment of our biweekly online conversation series for Curator’s Circle members, a collection of online events that offer insights from and Q&A’s with our curators. Please join us online at 4 PM every other Thursday for these intimate conversations. 

This event is open to Curator’s Circle members at the $1,000 level and above. Space is limited, and reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis. Registered participants will receive an email with a secure event link on September 29. 

Please contact Director of Special Events Masha Berek at mberek@berkeley.edu for more information or to register.