Rashaun Rucker, Sending Up My Timber, 2023. Mixed media and tambourine. Courtesy the artist and CJ Benninger / M Contemporary, Ferndale 

ALMA | LEWIS (AL) is a contemporary art platform in Pittsburgh supporting artists of the African Diaspora through residencies/fellowships, exhibitions, public programs, and archival research. Founded in 2017 by Kilolo Luckett and opened to the public in 2021, AL is housed in a converted industrial building in one of Pittsburgh’s most racially and economically diverse neighborhoods. Beginning in fall 2025, the organization will triple its footprint to expand its capacity, allowing AL to better prioritize long-term relationships with artists and create new opportunities for deep engagement with place, history, and community. 

Cecil McDonald, Jr., Frances Before Dinner, Make It Funky, 2007. Archival pigment print. Courtesy the artist

Luckett will develop AL’s program alongside the buildout of its physical space. In fall 2025, a solo show by interdisciplinary artist Élan Cadiz will close out the current gallery space. The gallery will reopen in fall 2026 with a survey of Cecil McDonald, Jr., whose photography and time-based work reflects on Black domestic life, masculinity, and performance. The reopening will coincide with a new three-month fellowship program featuring Sharbreon Plummer and Layo Bright as the inaugural cohort. In spring 2027, AL will present a solo exhibition by Rashaun Rucker, whose drawings, prints, and sculptures link racial profiling and urban ecosystems through layered visual symbolism.

Rashaun Rucker, Mother and Son, 2022. Archival pigment print laminated with matte film, mounted to 3mm Dibond panel and MDF with pine handle, edition of 1 + 1 AP. Courtesy the artist and CJ Benninger / M Contemporary, Ferndale

Throughout the renovation phase, the ongoing program Slow Listening Sessions will host closed-door gatherings, ranging from virtual studio visits to wellness check-ins and peer critiques. The Black Archive—a non-circulating research library of more than 1,000 books, ephemera, and artworks—will expand into a dedicated reading room serving as a material resource for artists, local scholars, and the broader public. The Black Archive series, a new public program pairing objects with talks by scholars and artists, will launch in January 2026.

Kilolo Luckett is founding Executive Director and Chief Curator of ALMA | LEWIS (AL), an experimental, contemporary art platform for critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black culture. She has organized exhibitions such as ALL STARS: A Constellation of 10 Resident Artists (2024), Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance (2022–23), Lizania Cruz: Performing Inquiry (2022), L. Kasimu Harris: Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges (2020), as well as solo presentations featuring Peju Alatise, Sharif Bey, Dominic Chambers, Tsedaye Makonnen, Thaddeus Mosley, Tajh Rust, and Shikeith, among others. Luckett previously worked at institutions in the Pittsburgh area, including serving as Consulting Curator at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Director of Development at The Andy Warhol Museum, and Curatorial Assistant at Wood Street Galleries, where she helped organize shows on Xu Bing, Louise Bourgeois, Larry Bell, Catherine Opie, Nam June Paik, and Tim Rollins + K.O.S. She was an Art Commissioner for the City of Pittsburgh’s Art Commission for twelve years.

Kristin Abhalter Smith, Nathan Abhalter Smith, Roman Susan