ISE - DA

As we complete the third official year of ISE-DA’s New Collectors Program, Black History Month offers a moment to reflect on the growth of our community and the role collectors play in shaping and preserving cultural legacy.

At a time when Black history is increasingly challenged or removed, expanding Black patronage is more essential than ever. Over the past three years, our members have begun building collections centered on Black artists, developing relationships across the global art ecosystem, and acquiring work that reflects personal mission, cultural context, and diasporic connection.

Several artists whose work has been acquired by members have been included in institutional exhibitions across the United States and internationally.

Through .co , our international initiative, members have also explored the historical continuities across the African diaspora and the intersections of art, history, and movements for liberation.

At ISE-DA, collecting is approached beyond individual transactions — as a practice of cultural stewardship prioritizing context, enduring relationships, and active engagement across the diaspora.

We remain committed to strengthening Black patronage and supporting the networks that sustain cultural production.

Happy Black History Month.

✨ Don’t miss your chance to see Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now at The Met before it closes next Monday! ✨

From the Met “This exhibition examines how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt through visual art, sculpture, literature, music, scholarship, religion, politics, and performance. In a multisensory exploration of nearly 150 years of artistic and cultural production—from the 19th century to the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s to the present day—the exhibition includes nearly 200 works of art in a wide range of media”.