Medgar Evers College 2023 Honorary Degree Recipient Announced
The recipient of our Honorary Doctorate degree at the 2023 Commencement Ceremony is Founder, Collector, and Executive Director of the Cultural Museum of African Art, Inc., Mr. Eric Edwards.
Mr. Eric Edwards, born and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, has spent more than five decades curating one of the greatest private collections of African art in the world. Critical in his mission to educate others about the richness and vibrant truths of African culture, he has acquired more than 2,500 artifacts. His collection includes art, ceremonial pieces, instruments, statues, masks, and weaponry.
His pieces have been acquired from his professional and personal travels, private sales, auctions, and relationships with artists, artisans, gallery owners, and even royal families throughout Africa. Among these items is a one-of-a-kind, palace drum of Nigeria that is valued at an estimated $1 million. Some of his pieces have been exhibited in prestigious cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A retired executive and consultant with AT&T, he shares his collection with the public. One of Edwards’ primary interests is to have his collection contained within its own museum, which is to be named “The Cultural Museum of African Art,” located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. His massive collection spans more than four thousand years and is representative of all fifty-four countries in Africa.
