More than 50 works by contemporary artists of African descent go on view Friday, Oct. 23, at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables. The exhibition, Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, runs through April 24, 2027, and general admission to the museum is free.

The show opens with a public reception the night before, Thursday, Oct. 22, from 7 to 9 p.m., with tickets at $15.

What is in the show

The works come from the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art. The Lowe describes the selection as more than fifty pieces across a wide range of media, chosen to look at Black art and life today.

The exhibition is arranged as a conversation between generations. According to the museum, younger artists are shown in dialogue with established ones, and the works take up questions of identity, power and history while pushing at what an artwork can be. Bernard Lumpkin organized the exhibition, and Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff co-curated it.

The museum's own page for the show is illustrated with Blue Dancer, a 2017 oil painting by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones from the collection, measuring 68 by 54 inches.

Where the title comes from

The name is taken from a 1970 song by Nina Simone, which the Lowe calls an anthem of pride, possibility and self-determination from the Black Power era. The museum frames the exhibition as an answer to that song more than fifty years later.

Opening week and later programs

The Thursday reception, listed on the University of Miami events calendar, runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum, and the university's Black Alumni Society is listed with the event. Lowe members get a preview from 6 to 7 p.m. the same evening, just before the public reception.

Two more programs are already on the university calendar. A free virtual Slow Looking session on the exhibition runs at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 10, for half an hour, and an Expert Tour of the show takes place on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 11 a.m. to noon.

Who made it possible

The Lowe lists the exhibition's funders as the Funding Arts Network, Chris and Suzanne Armstrong, the Cardinal Four Foundation, Beaux Arts Miami, the Lowe Advisory Council and Lowe members. Beaux Arts also underwrites the museum's free general admission.

Also on view

The new exhibition joins two shows already open at the Lowe: Morel Doucet: The Things We Carry, through March 27, 2027, and Let The Picture Lead: Helen Frankenthaler and Her Circle, through Feb. 6, 2027.

Planning a visit

The Lowe Art Museum is at 1301 Stanford Drive in Coral Gables, on the University of Miami campus just off South Dixie Highway. It is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and closed Sunday through Tuesday and on university holidays. General admission is free, and the museum recommends reserving tickets online in advance, since visitors without a reservation may be turned away when the building is at capacity. The museum's phone number is 305-284-3535.

  • What: Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art.
  • When: Oct. 23, 2026, to April 24, 2027. Opening reception Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 to 9 p.m.
  • Where: Lowe Art Museum, 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables.
  • Cost: Free general admission with an advance reservation; opening reception $15.

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