THE LINEAGE BETWEEN US

January 16, 2026

Brown Renfro is a reflection of how names carry history.

This exhibition brings together the work of my grandfather Leon Renfro and his former student Bruce Brown through the defining relationship of professor and student. It is a story about lineage, learning, and the ways Black creative knowledge is passed forward through teaching, discipline, and care.

As the granddaughter of Leon Renfro, the niece of Bruce Brown, and a scholar of African American studies, I approach this work with responsibility. Not only to honor their art, but to hold space for the classroom, the studio, and the relationships that shaped their practice.

This exhibition is about more than art. It is about Black academic excellence, creative inheritance, and the role of the curator as a bridge between history and the future.

This is Brown Renfro.

The professor.

The student.

The curator.