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Anderson Ranch Arts Center enriches lives with art, inspiration, and community.Founded in 1966, Anderson Ranch Arts Center is a premier destination for art-making and critical dialogue, bringing together aspiring and internationally renowned artists to discuss and further their work in a stimulating environment. Throughout the year, the Ranch hosts engaging community events that feature local, national, and international artists; and a year-round Artists-in-Residence Program, fostering artistic growth for emerging and established visual artists. Learn more at andersonranch.org.

Anderson Ranch Summer Series: Derek Fordjour in conversation with Sophia Cohen

This event was recorded August 1, 2024 at Schermer Meeting Hall
during the 2024 Summer Series, in partnership with Aspen Public Radio.

Derek Fordjour (b. 1974) was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Ghanaian parents. He was awarded the 2016 Sugarhill Museum Artist-in-Residence, the 2017 Sharpe Walentas Studio Program in New York City, and named the 2018 Deutsche Bank NYFA Fellowship Award. He was appointed The Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union and served as a Core Critic at Yale University School of Art. In 2018, he was awarded commissions for the Whitney Museum of American Art Billboard Project and the Metropolitan Transit Authority Arts & Design program. Recently, he was the inaugural artist for the Building Art Series on the façade of MOCA Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Hyperallergic. He has also been featured in several publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Juxtapoz, Vanity Fair and Forbes Magazine. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work is held in the private and public collections of The Studio Museum of Harlem, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, SFMOMA, Brooklyn Museum, Perez Museum, The Whitney Museum and LACMA. Fordjour is the founder of Contemporary Arts Memphis Summer Fellowship program.

Sophia Cohen is an advisor working with artists, clients, and institutions to curate exceptional projects. She chairs both the Guggenheim’s Young Collectors Council and the Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle. Her personal collection features the works of many young female artists and underrepresented groups. In the coming months, Cohen will speak at The Met’s Women & the Critical Eye in 2024 event with Venus Williams and start the Global Ambassadors Initiative at LACMA.