Cheryl Finley, Champion of Black Arts Professionals, Wins 2026 Driskell Prize

Cheryl Finley, the award-winning art historian, curator and author recognised for supporting emerging Black arts professionals and curators, has been named the winner of the 2026 David C. Driskell Prize.

Established by Atlanta’s High Museum in 2005, the prize is the first US national award dedicated to honouring contributions to African American art and art history. At a ceremony in September, the museum will present Finley with $50,000. 

In a statement, Finley said that she was “honoured” to have been selected for the prize, which she said comes “at a time when funding for the arts and education has been met with historic challenges”.

She continued: “The Driskell Prize recognises the critical role of innovative pedagogy, collaborative work and academic excellence at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and beyond catalysing the next generation of global arts ecosystem leaders. 

“This work continues because people and institutions choose to invest in it, protect it and believe in its value in creating access and opportunity for future scholars, curators and art leaders across the African diaspora.”

In a 2025 survey, the American Alliance of Museums found that since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, 34 percent of American museums have faced the cancellation of government grants or contracts as a direct or indirect result of executive orders and actions.

In addition, 13 percent of museums reported being impacted by new legal impositions as a result of their diversity, equity and inclusion activity, while eight percent reported losing sponsorship or grants for the same reason.

Since 2019, Finley has served as professor in the department of art and visual culture at Spelman College, Atlanta’s prominent, historically Black women’s liberal arts college. She is also director of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective at the same.

The collective is renowned for building one of America’s most important syllabus devoted to African American studies. It also works to connect historically Black colleges with leading national museums, developing a pipeline between students and institutions within a competitive and rapidly under-funded sector. 

As an author, Finley is known for her writing in scholarly publications, such as Committed to Memory: The Art of the Slave Ship Icon (Princeton University Press, 2018) and My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South (Yale University Press, 2018). 

Her curatorial credits include the touring exhibitions People Who Make the World Go ’Round: The Legacy of Sepia Magazine 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.

Since 2013, she has co-organised 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.

The Driskell award is named for the renowned African American artist and scholar David C. Driskell, whose work on the African diaspora credits him as one of the most established academics in his field. Past recipients of the award include sculptor Alison Saar, painter Amy Sherald and conceptual artist Rashid Johnson.

Finley described Driskell as “a friend and mentor, whose generosity as an artist, curator, scholar and educator continues to inspire my work”. 

Rand Suffolk, director of the High Museum said: “With this year’s award, the High is honoured 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 Historically Black College and University landscape and far beyond.

“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.”

The High Museum is currently hosting the mid-career retrospective Amy Sherald: American Sublime. The exhibition was last year pulled by Sherald from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, after concerns were raised that a portrait of a Black transgender woman might be withdrawn from display to avoid angering The White House.