In April 2025, the Taft Museum of Art welcomed hip-hop artist Rich Robbins to Cincinnati for a two-week residency. This annual residency, which is part of the museum's year-round Duncanson Program initiative, celebrates the achievements of contemporary artists working in a variety of disciplines. The program also honors the relationship between Black American painter Robert S. Duncanson and his patron, Nicholas Longworth, who commissioned Duncanson to paint landscape murals in the foyer of his home about 1850-52, now the Taft Museum of Art.
During Robbins' time in the Queen City, he immersed himself in the city's arts and culture scene and made an impact through various programs, performances, collaborations, and celebrations. Here's a quick photo highlight of his time with the Taft:
To close his two-week residency, Robbins led a closing celebration at Artsville which included a recorded iteration of his conversation series Soft & Tender, a multidimensional exploration of Black fatherhood through the lens of the sons they raised. Joining him were panelists Damian Hoskins, Executive Director of Elementz; Davia J. Crutchfield, PhD, Creator and Co-Founder of BL&CK; and Kareem Simpson, Duncanson Program Manager.
The museum is grateful to Rich Robbins for joining the legacy of the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence, and look forward to 2026 celebrating the 40th anniversary of this prestigious program.
When you read a museum label, you may notice the string of numbers that appears beneath an object’s title, date, maker and description. This string—called an accession number—uniquely identifies the object within a museum’s collection. Learn more about the purpose and function of these numbers from the Taft Museum of Art's Registrar & Collections Manager, Laura Stewart.
The Taft Museum of Art is one of just four museums to present "Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White—Prints from the Rembrandt House Museum," marking the first time in more than 25 years that the Rembrandt House Museum is sharing an exhibition of these rare and exquisite prints from its renowned collection with museums outside the Netherlands. Learn more about the exhibition from Taft Museum of Art Curator, Tamera Lenz Muente.
Join Taft Museum of Art Assistant Curator, Angela Fuller, on a journey to Madrid, Spain, with the museum's portraits of Charles and Anna Taft! Learn more about the process, procedures, and importance behind lending artwork as you join these paintings for their first trip outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.