Girlhood never leaves us it is a place of triumph sometimes trauma. We use the word colored to draw attention to the ways in which ‘the girl’ is literally colored by others too loud too angry too independent the list is long
Prior to creating The Colored Girls Museum (TCGM), Vashti DuBois held leadership positions at a number of organizations over the span of her 30-year career in non-profit and arts administration. DuBois’ work focused primarily on issues impacting girls and women of color at organizations such as The Free Library of Philadelphia, Tree House Books, the historic Church of the Advocate, the Children’s Art Carnival in New York City, the Haymarket People’s Fund in Boston, Congreso Girls Center and The Leeway Foundation.
In 2015, DuBois opened TCGM to “honor the stories, experiences and history of Colored Girls throughout the African Diaspora.” It is the first memoir museum of its kind offering visitors a multi-disciplinary experience in a residential space. TCGM initiates the ordinary object, submitted by the colored girl herself, as a representative of an aspect of her story and personal history which she finds meaningful. Dubois was awarded the Arts and Business Leadership Award for Outstanding Dedication to Women and Girls of Color, and for providing agency and visibility for the practices and histories of artists often excluded from the canon.
TCGM has been engineered to pop up in other cities and neighborhoods around the country, transforming ordinary spaces into Colored Girls Museum outposts that collect, archive and share the stories of indigenous Colored Girls.
DuBois is a graduate of Wesleyan University and a NAMAC Fellow. She is currently working on a book about the making of The Colored Girls Museum.
Michael Clemmons is a Visual Artist, Curator of The Colored Girls Museum (TCGM) and Director of Temple University’s Center for Community Partnerships (TU-CCP). As Curator Mr. Clemmons is a part of TCGM’s leadership team and has steered the curation and implementation of eleven exhibitions since the museum’s opening in 2015. As Director of TU-CCP, a center which houses projects formerly associated with the Center for Social Policy and Community Development (CSPCD) he leads a scope of work with 50 years of tradition in workforce Development, Adult Education and Community engagement. With over 30 years of experience Mr. Clemmons directs initiatives from inception to implementation and coordinates strategic partnerships to facilitate programming, while advancing the goals and mission of TUCCP, Temple University and the Office of Community Relations.
The Colored Girls Museum is a Public Ritual For The Protection Praise and Grace of The Ordinary Colored Girl
Founded in 2015 The Colored Girls Museum (TCGM) is a memoir museum founded by Vashti DuBois that honors the stories, experiences and history of ordinary Colored Girls. The first of its kind, the museum initiates the object—submitted by the Colored Girl herself—as a representative of an aspect of her story and personal history which she finds meaningful. These objects embody her experience and expression of being a Colored Girl.
TCGM distinguishes itself by exclusively collecting, preserving, honoring and decoding artifacts pertaining to the experience and herstory of Colored Girls. This museum is equal parts research facility, exhibition space, gathering place and think tank. TCGM was founded in 2015 and is located in the historic neighborhood of Germantown in Philadelphia, an area renowned for its compliment of historic buildings and homes.
This start-up museum enterprise has been written about in Black Futures Anthology edited by Kimberly Drew amd Jenna Wortham, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, Essence, Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Travel Noire, Metro U.K., and others.