Recent Exhibition
Jacob Lawrence: African American Modernist
Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, Netherlands
September 27, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Kunsthal KAdE presents the first retrospective exhibition of Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) ever mounted in Europe. This comprehensive survey encompasses Lawrence’s entire career, from his early work in Harlem in the 1930s to his final decades in Seattle. The exhibition features 70 paintings, 25 drawings, and 75 prints, alongside photographs and objects from the artist’s estate.
Works on view include panels from Lawrence’s iconic Migration Series (1940-41) and Struggle Series, as well as paintings depicting Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Throughout his six-decade career, Lawrence focused on African American history and contemporary life, developing an autonomous painting style that established him as one of the most important American painters of the 20th century.
Photo courtesy of Kunsthal Kade | Photo credit: Mike Bink
Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Estate
As part of their ongoing legacy, Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Estate provided resources programs that offer unique educational opportunities to aspiring artists, awards arts organizations and provides for the Lawrence Prize for artistic achievement. They also support documentation and scholarship on established artists.
The Gwendolyn and Jacob Lawrence Prize
In direct support of artists, the biennial Lawrence Prize for artistic achievement is given to a mid-career artist. The selected artist receives $15,000 and an exhibition in the Seattle Art Museum’s Lawrence Gallery.
Past awardees:
2025—Karon Davis | 2023—Bethany Collins | 2021—Lauren Halsey
2019—Aaron Fowler | 2017—Sondra Perry | 2015—Brenna Youngblood
2013—Ruby Latoya Frazier | 2012—Theaster Gates | 2010—Titus Kaphar
More information can be found on the Seattle Art Museum website.
Jacob and Gwen Knight Lawrence Foundation
The mission of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation is to create and support a living legacy through programs and events that promote excellence in the arts and foster a love of education that the Lawrences embodied.
The Exhibitions and Programs section highlights how this mission comes to life. Here you will find a selection of partnerships, lectures, exhibitions, and special initiatives supported by the Foundation. Each effort expands public understanding of Jacob Lawrence’s legacy and strengthens the presence of African American art within museums, colleges, and cultural institutions.
Through ongoing collaborations with the Savannah College of Art and Design, the Telfair Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and other partners, the Foundation supports artists, scholars, and educators whose work reflects creativity, rigor, and community-centered values.
Foundation Programs and Institutional Partnerships
Endowment Support
The foundation provided substantial support leading up to the creation of the 2025 Exhibition Jacob Lawrence | African American Modernist, at the Kunsthal Kade Museum in Amersfoort, Netherlands.
General Institutional Support
Endowment support has gone towards Savannah College of Art and Design and the Telfair Museum. Additional support was provided to the Detroit Institute of Art for the acquisition of African American art and to the Smithsonian American Art Museum through matching funds.
Lecture Series and Exhibitions at the Savannah College of Art and Design
At the Savannah College of Art and Design, lecturers and/or exhibitions have included renowned artists Theaster Gates, Jack Whitten, Fred Wilson, Faith Ringgold Ashley Bryan and Richard Hunt.
Jacob Lawrence Symposium at SCAD
In 2015, the Foundation presented the Jacob Lawrence Symposium at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The symposium featured Dr. Walter O. Evans, Michelle Dubois, Richard Powell, Sandra Jackson Dumont, Steven Nelson, Derrick Adams, Njideka Akunyili, Meleko Mokgosi, and Barbara Earl Thomas. Presenters included artists, scholars, and museum leaders who addressed Jacob Lawrence’ s legacy and the history of African American art.
Lecture Series at the Telfair Museum
Lecturers have included Deborah Willis, Edmund Barry Gaither, Whitfield Lovell, Alvia Wardlaw, Radcliffe Bailey, Krista Thompson, Richard Mayhew, and Richard Powell.
Jacob Lawrence Struggle Series Tour, 2021
The Phillips Collection | June 26 – September 19, 2021 | Seattle Art Museum: February 25 – May 25, 2021 | The Birmingham Museum of Art: October 17, 2020 – January 10, 2021 | The Peabody Essex Museum: January 18 – April 26, 2020 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art: June 2 – September 7, 2020
The Lawrence Scholars Program
The Lawrence Scholars Program, established through the support of Jacob and Gwen Lawrence, offers twelve promising young people in New York City the opportunity for intensive study, exploration, and mentoring in the visual arts at Parsons School of Design during their sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. Programming is designed to give students the skills they will need to thrive in their pre-college courses and begin preparing for their transition to college. Mentoring by current Parsons undergraduates with similar backgrounds and by professional artists and designers complements the Scholars’ work in the classroom and fosters broader dialogue about academic and professional goals.
Students are recruited through partnerships with Harlem-based nonprofit organizations and New York City public schools.
The Jacob and Gwen Lawrence Fellowship at Skowhegan
Established through the generosity of the Lawrence’s and with the support of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, offers scholarship support for one or more artists to participate annually in Skowhegan’s unique summer residency program for emerging visual artists. In addition to this generous Fellowship support, Lawrence’s entire art library now resides at the Robert Lehman Library on the Skowhegan campus.
Applications are only available online—for further information, please visit www.skowheganart.org.