Cheryl Finley

Cheryl Finley’s career as a respected and award-winning art scholar, educator and author spans two decades and has consistently focused on collaboration and mentorship among her peers and students. Since 2019, she has served as the director of the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective at Spelman. Through the Collective, Finley has helped build one of the country’s most important pipelines for emerging Black arts professionals, scholars and curators, connecting students from the world’s largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities with leading cultural organizations and museums, including the High. Recent initiatives have included a year-long educational partnership with LVMH, offering professional opportunities with their fashion brands and dynamic field immersions for students to meet with artists and company leadership in New York and Paris. Since 2013, Finley has co-organized Black Portraiture[s], a global academic convening committed to the study of African diasporic art and culture, bringing artists, educators and innovators together from around the world.

In addition, Finley has written and contributed to scholarly publications including “Committed to Memory: The Art of the Slave Ship Icon” (Princeton University Press, 2018), based on her dissertation research, and “My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South” (Yale University Press, 2018), which examines the art historical significance of contemporary Black artists working in the region. Her articles and art reviews have appeared in Aperture, Artforum, Artnet, ARTnews and Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, among other publications. Her curatorial credits include the touring exhibitions “People Who Make the World Go ’Round: The Legacy of Sepia Magazine” (2026-2029) and “‘Free as they want to be’: Artists Committed to Memory” (2022-present), featuring artists using photography, video and mixed media to reflect on freedom, memory and futurity.

“With this year’s award, the High is honored to support Finley’s distinguished career that sits at the intersection of scholarship and institutional change. Through her influential work, she has continuously invested in the next generation of visual arts leaders across Atlanta’s HBCU landscape and far beyond,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “We deeply respect her dedication to foregrounding Black artists and expanding how African American art and art history are exhibited and understood, efforts we have long been committed to through the Driskell Prize and our partnership with the AUC Art Collective.”

Learn more about the David C. Driskell Prize and other previous recipients.