The
Black Arts
Council
Benefit
A Night Out
with Friends
Honoring
Anita Blanchard and Martin Nesbitt
Mark Bradford
Thursday, April 9, 2026
6:30 p.m. Cocktails
8:00 p.m. Dinner
Performance by Kelsey Lu
DJ sets by Niks
Host Committee
Cierra Britton • Dominic Chambers • Kenturah Davis
Leonardo Drew • Tiffany and Antoine Gara
Amy Goldrich and Nick Kline • Alvin Hall and Kendall Messick
Chase Hall • Lauren Halsey • Ebony L. Haynes
Rujeko Hockley and Hank Willis Thomas
AC and Thelma Hudgins • Michi Jigarjian
Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida • Simone Leigh
Glenn Ligon • Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi
Kerrie McDevitt and Richard Torres • Angel Otero
Antwaun Sargent • Richard Simon and Storm Ascher
Shamina Sneed • Hannah Traore
The Museum of Modern Art
18 West 54 Street, New York
Questions? Contact us at bacbenefit@moma.org.
The Black Arts Council
The Black Arts Council is a community of patrons, philanthropists, collectors, and art enthusiasts dedicated to the elevated visibility, access, and appreciation for art and artists of the African diaspora at The Museum of Modern Art. Founded in 1993 by Dr. Akosua Barthwell Evans, Agnes Gund, and David Rockefeller, Jr., the Black Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art evolved from the visionary Friends of Education—a trailblazing initiative to cultivate a more reflective audience at the Museum, fund acquisitions by Black artists, support educational programming on Black art, and create opportunities for Black artists and arts professionals at MoMA.
The Black Arts Council continues its founding mission to strengthen the artistic tradition at MoMA by centering Black perspectives on modern and contemporary art that educate, inform, and elevate the canon across New York City and around the world.
Each year, the members-only programming of the Black Arts Council—from gallery talks and curatorial walk-throughs of groundbreaking exhibitions to intimate studio visits with artists, private collection visits, and more—fosters opportunities for Black artists and their work and illustrates this community’s unique ability to convene and champion artists of African descent at The Museum of Modern Art.
Anita Blanchard
Anita Blanchard, MD is a retired Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UChicago Medicine and former Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Pritzker School of Medicine. During her career in medicine, Dr. Blanchard enhanced Chicago’s South Side community by increasing the diversity of physicians and building programs to fulfill community needs. She created innovative community programs including seminars highlighting maternal and adolescent health. She also founded the Graduate Medical Education Resilience Initiative focused on physician wellbeing. Together with the Urban Health Initiative team, her Graduate Medical Education team launched Community Champions, a program facilitating resident and fellow participation in community engagement. Dr. Blanchard gained national recognition as vice president of the board of directors for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and served on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) OB-GYN review committee.
She has served on the boards of several cultural organizations including the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, Renaissance Society, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commission, and the Chicago Landmarks Commission. She currently serves on the board of trustees for the Art Institute of Chicago, Studio Museum in Harlem, Richard Hunt Foundation, and Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Advisory Board. Dr. Blanchard earned a bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology and Physiology from Northwestern University and completed medical school and her OB-GYN residency at University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine.
Martin Nesbitt
Martin Nesbitt is a founding partner and Co-CEO of The Vistria Group, a private investment firm that seeks to deliver both financial returns and societal impact. With almost $16 billion in AUM, The Vistria Group delivers attractive returns and positive outcomes for the lives and livelihoods its portfolio companies support.
Prior to founding The Vistria Group, Mr. Nesbitt served as CEO of The Parking Spot, an operator of off-airport parking facilities. He conceptualized and co-founded the company and was responsible for all aspects of its strategy and operations. Mr. Nesbitt also served as an officer of the Pritzker Realty Group, L.P., the real estate group primarily responsible for the Pritzker family business interests. He was also previously Equity Vice President and Investment Manager at LaSalle Partners.
In his various leadership capacities, Mr. Nesbitt has been successful at guiding executive teams toward exceeding goals, maximizing investment returns and trailblazing on the importance of diversity and equity in the workplace.
Mr. Nesbitt currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Airlines Group and Chewy, Inc. He is a trustee of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee, and was Treasurer of President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Mr. Nesbitt holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BA and honorary doctorate from Albion College.
Mark Bradford
Mark Bradford is a contemporary artist best known for his large-scale abstract paintings created out of paper. Characterized by its layered formal, material, and conceptual complexity, Bradford’s work explores social and political structures that objectify marginalized communities and the bodies of vulnerable populations. Just as essential to Bradford’s work is a social engagement practice through which he reframes objectifying societal structures by bringing contemporary art and ideas into communities with limited access to museums and cultural institutions. Using everyday materials and tools from the aisles of the hardware store, Bradford has created a unique artistic language rooted in his understanding that materials are embedded with meaning that precedes their artistic utility. His signature style developed out of his early experimentation with end papers, the small, translucent tissue papers used in hairdressing. He has since experimented with other types of paper, including maps, billboards, comic books, and “merchant posters” that advertise predatory services in economically distressed neighborhoods.
Bradford received his BFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia in 1995 and his MFA from CalArts in 1997. In 2017, Bradford represented the United States at the 57th Venice Biennale with his solo exhibition Tomorrow is Another Day. Bradford has exhibited internationally and received numerous honors, including the United States National Medal of the Arts in 2023, his appointment to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019, the US Department of State’s Medal of Arts in 2014, his appointment as a National Academician in 2013, and a MacArthur Fellowship Award in 2009. Recent solo exhibitions of his work include Exotica (2024) at Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong; Keep Walking (2024) at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin; Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen (2023) at Hauser & Wirth Monaco; You Don’t Have to Tell Me Twice (2023) at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street; Los de Abajo / The Underdogs (2023) at Museo de Arte de Zapopan; and Agora (2021) at the Fundação de Serralves.
Kelsey Lu
Photo: Yumna Al-Arashi
Kelsey Lu is a classically trained cellist, singer-songwriter, producer, composer, poet, and performance artist born in Charlotte, North Carolina, whose artistic practice flows comfortably at the intersection of visual art, performance, healing, and music. Returning with their new album So Help Me God (June 2026), Lu continues to expand on the singular voice first introduced with their 2019 debut Blood, now moving through devotion, desire, and grief with harder, more expansive sound and full creative self-possession.
In addition to their solo work, Lu collaborates with artists across various disciplines, from musicians such as Yves Tumor, Sampha, Florence + The Machine, and Skrillex to multidisciplinary artists such as Kahlil Joseph, Wu Tsang, Precious Okoyomon, and Jacolby Satterwhite. Recent projects include composing the original score for the Netflix documentary Daughters, winner of the Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award at Sundance 2024; the original score for Savanah Leaf’s BAFTA-winning debut feature Earth Mama, which premiered at Sundance 2023; and starring in and scoring Janicza Bravo’s Miu Miu–commissioned short film House Comes With a Bird alongside Pedro Pascal and Natasha Lyonne, which screened at the Venice Film Festival. Other notable works include collaboration on Wu Tsang’s installation Anthem with Beverly Glenn-Copeland, commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; a sound piece for the 2022 Venice Biennale in collaboration with Sophia Al-Maria; and a week-long performance throughout the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Great Hall in response to Jacolby Satterwhite’s A Metta Prayer.
Lu’s newest single “Running to Pain” was released in March.
Niks
Photo: AJ Hamilton
Singer, songwriter, DJ, and all-around artistic soul Nikki Kynard, also known as Niks, began her music career gracing stages all over the U.S. where she performed on tour with Lil Wayne. She has been recognized for her unique style, both writing and singing on Lil Wayne’s platinum Carter II album, for which she contributed to the tracks “Weezy Baby” and “Get Over.”
More recently, Niks established a passion for curating sound for exclusive events, experiences, and festivals, working with brands such as Sotheby’s, Blancpain, Heineken, Mikimoto, Kérastase, Tanya Taylor, Esquire, Amazon, Nordstrom, Kilian, Saks, L’AGENCE, Kohler, Peacock, and many more.
Since her start as a professional DJ, Niks has traveled the world and was a resident DJ at W Hotel Maldives. DJ Niks has performed at the Espy Awards, MoMA’s Armory Party, the US Open, and Madison Square Garden. She also curated music for the 2021 WSJ Innovator Awards.
She is a true musician that has the ability to mix different genres within her DJ sets: disco, funk, Detroit techno, house, soul, hip hop, reggae, and dance. As an entertainer she often finds herself playing a long track and stepping out from the DJ booth to dance with the crowd.
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