Ever wondered which art books line Solange‘s shelves? Now, you can get a look inside her collection of books—and even peruse some of them free of charge.
The pop star behind beloved songs such as “Cranes in the Sky” is now making some of her books available to the larger public via a new initiative called Saint Heron Community Library, which is being run by her similarly named digital platform.
Available via its website, the library includes catalogs for exhibitions on artists Barbara Chase-Riboud, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Martin Puryear, Gary Simmons, and Pope.L, among others, as well as texts such as Cedric Dover’s famed 1960 book American Negro Art. These books are available to borrow for 45 days each, though at the time of writing, most are already out on loan.
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Not all the books are about art, of course—there are works by Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, Octavia Butler, Wanda Coleman, and many other key Black thinkers and writers. But the offerings are rich in artists’ books and exhibition texts, some of which are rare and out of print.
Want to read the catalog for Adrian Piper’s 1987 show at the now defunct Alternative Museum in New York? You could do so, say, via the New York Public Library—but you could only use it on-site there. Through Saint Heron Community Library, you could have the book shipped to your door.
“Our focus is to propel the advancement of education, knowledge production, creative inspiration and skill development through culturally relevant Black and Brown literary works,” reads a description on the Saint Heron Community Library website. “Offered seasonally with book selections by guest curators, this new collection highlights renowned and modern artists practicing within various themes of poetry, visual art, critical thought, design and much more.”
The library is Solange’s latest effort to reach the art world. She participated in programs held in connection with “Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year, and she has worked with artists such as Wu Tsang on films made alongside her music. She has also brought her own work into various art institutions, performing at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and screening a film at several museums across the country.