Aug 22, 2026, 4 PM – 6 PM

In Conversation: Asmaa Walton of Detroit’s Black Art Library, OlaRonke Akinmowo of The Free Black Women’s Library with Myron Beasley, Scholar, Curator and Performance Artist

On the occasion of The Drawing Center's current exhibition Certainly An Act: Works on Paper by Pope L., join us for a special conversation and book swap during the residency of Detroit's Black Art Library in our bookshop.

Asmaa Walton of the Black Art Library will be joined by OlaRonke Akinmowo of The Free Black Women’s Library and Myron M. Beasley, PhD. Associate Professor of American Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Bates College for a conversation on the role of libraries in Afro-Diasporic communities as spaces for refuge and restoration, power and purpose.

Art Book Swap Guidelines

Bring 1–3 gently loved books from one of the eligible categories above.
Books must be in good condition: No ripped or missing pages, no water damage, excessive writing, or significant wear.
Please bring fiction or non-fiction books only.
No textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, or workbooks.

Eligible Book Categories

Arts & Culture
Art Writing & Group Shows
Children's Books

Keep the Spirit of the Swap

Choose a book that you genuinely enjoyed and would be excited to share. The goal is to pass along a meaningful read while ensuring the next reader receives a book in great condition.

OlaRonke Akinmowo

OlaRonke Akinmowo is an interdisciplinary artist who works in collage, papermaking, printmaking, book arts, and stop-motion animation, and is also a set decorator and dresser for film and TV. She is the Creator and Director of The Free Black Women’s Library, a social art project in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, which features a collection of over five thousand books written by Black women and Black nonbinary folks. The library also offers a wide array of free public programs, a free store, period pantry, virtual reading club, and a weekly book swap. Her art praxis interrogates the constructs of beauty, safety, and sanity, while prioritizing creativity, connection, and care in her approach.
Myron M. Beasley

Myron M. Beasley is an Associate Professor of American Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Bates College. He also serves as a curator and is the author of "Performance, Art, and Politics in the African Diaspora." His publication delineates his interests in the intersections of art, cultural and social policy, and human rights. His ethnographic research encompasses the exploration of cultural politics, material culture, and social change. He has received fellowships and grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Ruth Landes Award from the Reed Foundation. Most recently, he was distinguished with the Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize.

His scholarly work has been published in numerous academic journals, including Text and Performance Quarterly, Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, The Journal of Poverty, Museum & Social Issues, The Journal of Curatorial Studies, Food and Foodways, and Performance Research. His food film, installation, ritual, and feast—derived from his ethnographic research in Brazil—have been showcased at the UMMI and Paris film festivals. His recent curatorial endeavors include Re.Past.Malaga, Print.Power.Protest, The Ghetto Biennale in Haiti, CAAR Paris 7 in France, and Dak’art in Senegal.
Asmaa Walton

Asmaa Walton is a Detroit native and arts educator. Walton completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from Michigan State University in 2017 and a Master of Arts in Art Politics from New York University Tisch School of the Arts the following year. Walton spent time working at the Toledo Museum of Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Walton began Black Art Library in February of 2020 while working at the Saint Louis Art Museum with just 7 books, now the collection holds more than 600 books.

Lead support for Certainly an Act: Works on Paper by Pope.L is provided by Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis. Generous funding is provided by Jill and Peter Kraus, Sarah Arison, and Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg. Additional support is provided by Gladstone; Hilary and Peter Hatch, Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi, Modern Art, London, Adam Pendleton and Karsten Ch'ien, Vielmetter, Los Angeles, Timur Galen and Linda Genereux, the Hudgins Family, and Ann and Mel Schaffer.

Special thanks to the Estate of Pope.L and Mitchell-Innes & Nash.