dream hampton. | Photo by Erik Howard
The New Museum has named dream hampton as its 2024 Visionary. The annual Stuart Regen Visionaries Series honors “individuals who have made significant contributions to art and culture and who are actively envisioning a better future.”
hampton, an accomplished filmmaker, producer, and writer from Detroit, will be recognized as a distinguished speaker. She will participate in a discussion with curator and choreographer Rashida Bumbray and culinary entrepreneur Jon Gray, a co-founder of Ghetto Gastro, on Monday, March 4 at the New Museum in New York.
New Museum Director Lisa Phillips stated, “The Stuart Regen Visionaries Series is a key element of the New Museum’s public programs, which strive to connect the public with artists and thinkers who are creating timely and essential work across various disciplines.”
“dream hampton has been an incredible ally to the Museum since our first IdeasCity collaboration in 2016, and we are delighted to welcome her back as a Visionary, joined by two exceptional interlocutors for an exciting conversation.”
The Visionaries Series is a signature component of the New Museum’s public programs, which aim to connect the public with artists and thinkers creating timely and essential work across disciplines.
— New Museum Director Lisa Phillips
In the early 1990s, hampton became a prominent voice in hip hop, covering its rising icons and its unfiltered sexism. She was an editor at The Source, a contributing writer at Vibe, and has written for The Village Voice, Essence, and The New York Times. hampton also co-wrote Jay Z’s memoir “Decoded” (2010).
hampton’s film works include the award-winning short “Freshwater” (NYT OpDocs/PBS, 2023), a poetic portrayal of Detroit, which intertwines her cherished childhood memories with the current realities of displacement, abandonment, floodwaters, and climate change; “Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop” (Netflix, 2023); and “Surviving R. Kelly” (Netflix, 2019). The latter was nominated for an Emmy, won a Peabody Award, and is credited with R. Kelly facing accountability and being imprisoned for years of sexual abuse.
Previous Visionaries include Jeremy O. Harris and Arthur Jafa in 2021, Claudia Rankine (2020), and Hilton Als (2015). In 2009, Bill T. Jones presented the inaugural Visionaries lecture. CT
FIND MORE about dream hampton on her website
WATCH MORE “Fresh Water” (2023) is a recent New York Times Op-Docs by dream hampton. She describes the short film as “a portrait of Detroit, of its abandoned neighborhoods and the canals affected by the climate crisis that are reclaiming the blocks I biked as a child.”
BOOKSHELF
In 2010, dream hampton collaborated with Jay-Z on his memoir, “Decoded.” Jon Gray is the co-author of “Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen.” Recent New Museum exhibition catalogs include Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined, “Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces,” “Faith Ringgold: American People,” and “Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott.”
