The Kingsley Initiative is a program which recognizes, encourages, and provides appropriate financial resources to local artists in the Sacramento BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community. This program, created in 2021, is funded by the Kingsley Art Club and is executed in partnership with the Crocker, with a 5-year funding commitment from the Kingsley.
Notice next time you’re at the Crocker viewing the latest Crocker acquisition, or enjoying a curation or an educational outreach program, an acknowledgement that this effort has been “underwritten in whole or in part by the Kingsley Initiative”.
Projects selected for support:
- Most recent (see below) – The Kingsley is excited to announce that the Crocker Art Museum has acquired the stunning artwork Higuerillas, 2025 by artist Fidencio Fifield-Perez. Higuerillas, 2025 is intaglio (oil-based, single pigment) ink on woven paper, acrylic on canvas. The Oaxacan born artist, Fifield-Perez is no stranger to the DACA program and weaves this immigration paperwork and other paper ephemera such as envelopes into patterns then paints delicate images on top, signs of life thriving amidst the backdrop of institutional indifference. Fifield-Perez is an Assistant Professor of Painting at UC Davis and has exhibited at numerous institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the International Print Center NY.
- Koo Kyung Sook’s Markings 23-3, is a woodcut, paper casting, oil and collage, 73 1/2 x 79 1/2 in. Purchased for the Crocker Art Museum with funds from the Kingsley Initiative, 2024.15.1.
- CSUS Professor Tavares Blackman’s “O Dad” painting was purchased for the Crocker Art Museum’s collection.
- Artist Shonna McDaniels has been commissioned to prepare an exhibition for the Crocker featuring the works of Black artists now held in the Crocker Art Museum’s collection.
- Artist Craig Martinez will prepare an educational program for presentation at the Crocker Art Museum illustrating his personal approach to art.
- Artist Jessica Wimbley created a digital video collage that is featured in the stairwell nearest to the bookstore. Be sure and take a look the next time you are at the Crocker.
© Tavarus Blackmon
“O Dad”
* Work purchased for the Crocker Art Museum by the Kingsley Initiative
