Research + Practice: Nekisha Durrett

contemplates biases and the unreliability of memory, as information is filtered over time. Through deep research and material investigation, Durrett finds historical traces in the present that are filled with stories easily overlooked or not often celebrated. By illuminating these often hidden individual and collective histories of Black life and imagination, Durrett addresses her own younger self and the stories she wished she had learned. Her expansive approaches to artmaking include public art, social practice, installation, painting, sculpture and design. She has work in permanent collections at Arlington Arts in Arlington, VA, Baltimore Museum of Art, Miami Dade County, the Phillips Collection and the MLK Jr. Library in Washington DC, the City of West Palm Beach, and Bryn Mawr College in PA. She is currently a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This talk is a part of the Studio Arts and Design Research + Practice lecture and conversation series, occurring on Wednesday nights. The Research + Practice series invites acclaimed artists, writers, critics and scholars to the Corcoran School throughout the year. The talks are free to the public, providing both the community and our students access to thought-provoking examples of contemporary research and practice and a chance to engage with leading cultural figures. Speakers are nominated and selected by the Studio Arts and Design programs, hosted by students and faculty at the historic Beaux Arts Flagg Building in Washington, D.C. Dates for the Research + Practice series are listed below.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

* All events will be Wednesday nights, 6:30pm-8:00pm in Hammer Auditorium.*

9/24/2025: Nekisha Durrett

10/01/2025: Arsh Raziuddin

10/22/2025: Joey Enríquez

11/05/2025: LJ Roberts

11/12/2025: Nursena Caksen

Host or Publisher The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at The George Washington University