GRIOT
Archiving the Black Experience at/by/beyond GSAPP

In 2021, Columbia GSAPP admitted the largest population of Black students since the 1970s. In both instances, a major swell in Black student demographics followed national calls for institutional racial reckoning, precipitated by the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

In May 2024, a majority of Black students who entered GSAPP in 2021 graduated, bringing the Black demographic back down to an inappreciable low.

GRIOT historicizes the Black experience at Columbia GSAPP over the past 50 years and documents the school’s relationship with Harlem, as told through the eyes of Black students, faculty, alumni, and Harlem residents.

Interviewees

Alade McKen
Cory Archie
Emanuel Admassu
Ife Vanable
Ifeoma Ebo
Justin Garrett Moore
Dr. Mabel O. Wilson
Malo Hutson
Mario Gooden
Matthew Shore
Najha Zigbi-Johnson
Dr. Sharon E. Sutton
Dr. Sophonie Joseph
Vernice Miller-Travis
Victor Edwards