Carol Thompson, Richman Family curator of African art discusses the evolution of the growing African art collection at the High Museum and her vision for the future. Thompson's goal is to create the most significant African art collection in the southeastern United States.
Carol Thompson was appointed the High's first Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art in September 2001. Since her arrival at the High, she has curated Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art (2007), African from the Glassell Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2004), and For this World and Beyond: African Art from the Fred and Rita Richman Collection (2002). Thompson has taught at New York University, Vassar College, City College in Harlem, Fashion Institute of Technology and other institutions. Thompson's in-progress dissertation at New York University studies African art as p across diverse contexts both within Africa and beyond. She received her M.A. in art history with a specialization in African Art from the University of Iowa (1988) and her B.A. in art history from Hamline University in Minnesota (1980). She is the author of *African Art Portfolio: Masterpieces from the 11th to the 20th Century*(1993) and *For this World and Beyond: African Art from the Fred and Rita Richman Collection* (2002). Thompson is a Research Fellow at the Center for Public Scholarship, Emory College