August 26 – December 6, 2026
About:
The Trevisani-Student Advised Art Acquisition Project is a distinctive initiative that empowers Bucknell students to actively shape the Samek Art Museum’s collection through research, dialogue, and direct engagement with artists, galleries, and curators. Each year, students work collaboratively to identify and acquire artworks that reflect the museum’s commitment to fostering meaningful conversations about art, history, and contemporary culture.
Following extensive research and group deliberation, students selected Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, Portfolio 1: First Impressions (2025), a portfolio of five prints by artist William Villalongo in collaboration with urbanist Shraddha Ramani. The acquisition reflects the students’ interest in works that connect historical narratives to present-day social realities while demonstrating the power of visual art as a tool for research, storytelling, and public engagement.
This portfolio is part of a larger project comprising six thematic print portfolios that reinterpret and expand upon the groundbreaking data visualizations created by W.E.B. Du Bois and his collaborators for the American Negro Exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Designed to document the achievements, conditions, and contributions of Black Americans in the decades following Emancipation, Du Bois’s infographics challenged prevailing narratives of Western progress and offered a powerful visual argument for the central role of Black communities in shaping American social, economic, and cultural life.
In Printing Black America, Villalongo and Ramani carry this legacy into the 21st century through a series of “data portraits” that combine contemporary datasets, printmaking techniques, and ongoing research by Black scholars, social scientists, and activists. Through these works, historical and contemporary experiences are brought into dialogue, inviting viewers to consider how data can reveal both progress and persistent inequities.
The full Printing Black America project consists of six portfolios—First Impressions, Populations, Employment, Ownership, Education, and Communities—each produced in editions of 20 and comprising five prints. The presentation of First Impressions at the Samek Art Museum highlights the museum’s commitment to collecting works that bridge art, scholarship, and social inquiry while creating opportunities for students and audiences to engage with complex histories through contemporary artistic practice. You can find more information about the Printing Black America project here.
Artwork © William Villalongo, Shraddha Ramani, and Graphicstudio USF. Photographs by Argenis Apolinario.
