Carrie Mae Weems Guest-Edits Wallpaper*, Announces 250 and Change Initiative
In October 2026, Wallpaper* magazine will feature an issue guest-edited by Carrie Mae Weems, who was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1953. To pay tribute to her 1988 piece Inserts, the magazine will be printed on unvarnished paper. This edition highlights Weems alongside artists she respects, centering on themes of monuments and memory. Known for her exploration of race, identity, and power, Weems created significant works such as the Kitchen Table series (1990) and From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-96). Her installation What What When Where debuted at the Whitney in 1998. She won the Joseph H Hazen Rome Prize in 2005/2006 and opened a retrospective in 2012. Weems organized performances like Grace Notes (2016) and Contested Sites of Memory (2024), hosted Monumental Concerns symposia in 2025, and launched 'The Heart of the Matter' in Turin. Her film The Long Goodbye was commissioned by V&A East, and on Juneteenth 2025, her work for the Obama Presidential Center, The Cool Blue Wind, premiered. On July 4, 2026, her collective Social Studies 101 announced 250 and Change, commissioning 50 artists to create future monuments.
Key facts
- Carrie Mae Weems guest-edits the October 2026 issue of Wallpaper* magazine.
- The issue is printed on unvarnished paper, referencing her 1988 work Inserts.
- Weems was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1953.
- Her Kitchen Table series (1990) centered on Black women's experiences.
- From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-96) used tinted daguerreotypes.
- In 1998, the Whitney Museum premiered her installation What What When Where.
- Weems won the 2005/2006 Joseph H Hazen Rome Prize fellowship.
- Her retrospective at the Guggenheim was the first by a Black woman there.
- Grace Notes (2016) responded to the Charleston church shooting.
- Contested Sites of Memory (2024) focused on Confederate statue removal.
- Monumental Concerns symposia were held at Syracuse University (2023) and MoMA (2025).
- The Heart of the Matter exhibition opened at Gallerie d'Italia in Turin in 2025.
- The Long Goodbye film was commissioned by V&A East.
- The Cool Blue Wind installation debuted at the Obama Presidential Center on Juneteenth 2025.
- 250 and Change initiative announced on July 4, 2026, commissions 50 artists.
- Containers for 250 and Change are designed by Elizabeth Diller.
Entities
Artists
- Carrie Mae Weems
- Robert Colescott
- Frida Kahlo
- Willem de Kooning
- Lauren Halsey
- Alberto Burri
- Vladimir Tatlin
- Martin Puryear
- Nona Hendryx
- Jawwaad Taylor
- Craig Harris
- Carl Hancock Rux
- Esther Armah
- Vijay Iyer
- Jennifer Koh
- Somi
- Eric Gottesman
- Brandon Lazore
- Hank Willis Thomas
- Theaster Gates
- Eliza Myrie
- Julie Mehretu
- Paul Pfeiffer
- Elizabeth Diller
Institutions
- Wallpaper*
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- J Paul Getty Museum
- Museum of Modern Art
- National Museum for Women in the Arts
- Walker Art Center
- American Academy in Rome
- Frist Center for the Visual Arts
- Portland Art Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
- Guggenheim
- Park Avenue Armory
- Brown Arts Institute
- Lincoln Center
- Syracuse University
- Gallerie d'Italia
- Intesa Sanpaolo
- Aperture
- V&A East Museum
- Obama Presidential Center
- Social Studies 101
- Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- Art21
- Essence
Locations
- Portland
- Oregon
- Kansas City
- Missouri
- New York
- Park Avenue
- Rome
- Italy
- Nashville
- Tennessee
- Washington DC
- Cleveland
- Ohio
- Stanford
- California
- Chicago
- Illinois
- Charleston
- South Carolina
- Richmond
- Virginia
- Syracuse
- Turin
- London
- United Kingdom
- Greece
- Epidaurus
- Sicily
- Gibellina
- Mali
- Djenné
- Giza
- Egypt
- Lublin
- Poland
- Providence
- Rhode Island
- Arkansas
- upstate New York
- Denniston Hill