This project features works by Mickalene Thomas (born in 1971), who has become widely known for her portrait paintings of African-American women done in vivid colors and rhinestones. The project was first conceived of after the museum acquired the painting “Mama Bush: One of a Kind Two” (2009), which features the artist’s mother as the model. During the project, a part of the stage setting in her New York studio will be reproduced as an installation, allowing viewers to understand the artist’s approach to her subject matter and her creative process