Higher Education
Higher Education

Walton Foundation gives Spelman College $5.4 million for arts education

Giles Hall is seen in the background on the campus of Spelman College in Atlanta. (Chris Shinn / Spelman College)

Credit: Chris Shinn

Credit: Chris Shinn

Giles Hall is seen in the background on the campus of Spelman College in Atlanta. (Chris Shinn / Spelman College)
By
Sept 20, 2018

The Walton Family Foundation has given Spelman College $5.4 million to create an educational pipeline into art museum leadership to increase diversity in that field, the college announced Thursday.

The money will be used to establish the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies. A 2015 study found no more than 4 percent of museum curators, conservators, educators and leaders are African-American. Spelman is a historically black college near downtown Atlanta.

“This grant to Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center will encourage and support greater diversity within the Arts, expand inclusion efforts in the museum community and inspire the next generation of art and museum leadership,” Walton Family Foundation board member Alice Walton said in a statement.

The grant will support scholarships for Atlanta University Center students to study art history and to minor in fields such as business and technology. It also includes a summer program for high school students interested in pursuing museum careers.

About the Author

Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.

Follow Eric Stirgus on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Courses centered around Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, shown here rocking a sold out State Farm Arena last year, are beginning to spring up on college campuses across the U.S. (Robb Cohen for the AJC 2024)

Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ

New Bad Bunny class debuting at Emory this semester

The class will focus on Bad Bunny’s musical output, as well as the political and socioeconomic forces that shaped the artist’s development in Puerto Rico, according to Emory.

The Latest

Courses centered around Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, shown here rocking a sold out State Farm Arena last year, are beginning to spring up on college campuses across the U.S. (Robb Cohen for the AJC 2024)

Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ

New Bad Bunny class debuting at Emory this semester

Could America’s next elite chef school be a Savannah community college?

Pell Grants now available to all incarcerated students in Georgia

Featured

An aerial view captures a large area under construction for a new data center campus on Thursday, May 29, 2025. Developed by QTS, the data center campus near Fayetteville is one of the largest under construction in Georgia. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Georgia could restart regional energy, water reviews for data center proposals

Georgia is weighing rule changes to once again make certain data centers disclose information about their resource requirements to local planning authorities.

From Ponzi fallout to party power: Frost dynasty clings to Coweta GOP

By the end of the two-hour meeting, Brant Frost V had stepped down as Coweta County GOP chair. But in a show of his continued influence, he took on a new role.

After a decade of delays, $148M renovation to Cross Keys High begins

The $148 million project is expected to be completed in 2028. The school, which serves about 1,600 students, will remain open during construction.