history
|
Robert E. Steele is a retired professor from the University of Maryland and former Executive Director of the David C. Driskell Center, which focuses on African American art and art from the African diaspora. While studying the intersection of religion and psychology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Steele realized that he needed secular training to work in a medical setting, which led him to apply to the Yale School of Public Health’s program in community mental health. During his breaks at Harlem Hospital, he would explore local art galleries, which eventually led him to amass hundreds of works of very high quality, including historical and contemporary works.
The collection includes works of renowned artists such as Martin Puryear, Elizabeth Catlett, and Benny Andrews, while also introducing works by other important artists including Faith Ringgold, David C. Driskell, and Michael B. Platt. Steele has given more than 100 works from his collection of African-American art to the Yale University Art Gallery since 2004. Steele and his wife, Jean, have established an internship program at the art gallery that seeks to introduce students of color to potential careers in the museum profession, a field in which African Americans are underrepresented. |