Curator

Ms. Bateman has curated several eclectic exhibitions during the course of her career in arts administration. In the 1990s while working as the arts administrator for the City of Newark (NJ), she curated an exhibition of Martin Luther King, Jr. photographs by the late Robert Sengstacke called “King: A Poignant Portrayal,” which included 6’ enlargements of Sengstacke’s extraordinary, iconic images as well as several smaller photographs of the civil rights leader, his family, colleagues and cohorts. Sengstacke’s photographs have been published in Life Magazine, The Negro Digest, Ebony, Jet, Muhammad Speaks and the Chicago Daily Defender, published by his father, John H. Sengstacke. Later, she curated an exhibit of art, photographs, artifacts and memorabilia for the City’s “Newarks of the World Reunion” hosted by then Mayor Sharpe James. These items were shipped to the city from the various municipalities and townships – from Newark, California to Newark-on-Trent, England. Also during this tenure, she curated an exhibition of the AIDS Quilt for World AIDS Day, an emotional and thought-provoking display of panels representing Essex County victims of this  devastating disease. In 2005, she curated a Black History Month exhibition for Summit Medical Group in Berkley Heights, NJ entitled “The Art of Healing: The Healing Power of the Arts,” which featured the works of extraordinary artists Ben Jones, Gladys Barker Grauer, Janet Taylor Pickett, Bisa Washington and the late Russell Murray, photographer Akintola Hanif and sculptor Ujima Majid. In 2013 she curated a photography exhibition entitled “Newark: In Search of a Healing,” at the Newark LGBTQ Center which showcased the works of eight renowned photographers: Manuel Acevedo, David Booker, Z. Risasi Dais, Akintola Hanif, Mansa K. Musa, William “Bill” May, Pamela Owens and Barry Gray.

(Above: Newark Open Doors Exhibition: “Newark: In Search of a Healing.” Curator Celeste Bateman pictured with photographers Manuel Acevedo, David Booker, Mansa Musa, Barry Gray and Z. Risasi Dais, 2013)

(Below: Celeste (2^nd from the left) with artists Janet Taylor Pickett, Bisa Washington, Gladys Barker Grauer, Ben F. Jones and Ujima Majied)

(Photographers Unknown)