Mary Ann Calo is Batza Professor of Art and Art History Emerita at Colgate University. She is the author of three books, including Distinction and Denial: Race, Nation, and the Critical Construction of the African American Artist, 1920–40.
African American Artists and the New Deal Art Programs contributes importantly to the literature on New Deal art and race, exploring the opportunities and limits the art projects created for Black visual artists. Drawing on under-researched records, especially the Black extension galleries in the South, Calo shows how the art projects provided new resources for Black artists while maintaining racial discrimination and segregation. -Sharon Musher, author of Democratic Art: The New Deal's Influence on American Culture