Willie Birch: Stories to Tell at CAAM

California African American Museum is presenting “Willie Birch: Stories to Tell” in Los Angeles through October 21, 2026, in what the museum describes as the first career retrospective of the New Orleans-born artist. The show brings together work from 1968 to the present and follows Birch across drawings, prints, sculpture and large works on paper. CAAM says the exhibition is organized chronologically and in three major sections, with an emphasis on Birch’s long-running attention to Black American life and cultural memory. ### What exactly is on view at CAAM? CAAM says the exhibition includes works from Birch’s early period in the 1970s, his move toward papier-mâché in the 1980s, and more recent charcoal and acrylic works on paper. The museum describes the show as a survey of Birch’s practice across decades, with major installations placed throughout the galleries. The American Federation of Arts, which co-organized the exhibition with the New Orleans Museum of Art, says Birch’s work moves across media including wood, papier-mâché sculpture and large-scale works on paper. (caamuseum.org) The exhibition materials say those works chronicle Birch’s view of Black American life and the ways cultural forms carry traces of other traditions. ### Who is Willie Birch, and what themes does the show follow? (caamuseum.org) Willie Birch was born in 1942, according to the American Federation of Arts, and was raised in New Orleans before training in Europe, Baltimore and New York. Exhibition materials from CAAM and AFA say Birch often uses the term “retentions” to describe the persistence of one culture’s narratives and traditions within another. (amfedarts.org) CAAM says Birch has explored how African traditions have been retained in music, art and culture in America as part of the Black experience and beyond. The museum also describes him as an artist, community organizer and cultural provocateur whose work asks why some cultural forms endure while others do not. ### Who organized the retrospective? CAAM says the exhibition was co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the New Orleans Museum of Art and curated by Russell Lord, chief of curatorial affairs at the Norman Rockwell Museum. (amfedarts.org) The museum also lists Bank of America as sponsor and says support for the exhibition and catalogue came from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional catalogue support from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. (caamuseum.org) The American Federation of Arts says many of the works come directly from Birch or from Fort Gansevoort Gallery in New York, with additional loans from institutions including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. ### Where is the museum, and what can visitors expect? The California African American Museum is at 600 State Drive in Exposition Park, according to the Exposition Park venue listing. (caamuseum.org) That listing shows the museum’s current public calendar alongside other July and August programs at the site. CAAM is also running exhibition-related programming. A museum event page says “CAAM Creates: Willie Birch: Stories to Tell” is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, 2026, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a gallery walkthrough followed by a hands-on workshop. (amfedarts.org) The museum says the event is open to all ages and abilities, free to attend, and that RSVP is encouraged but not required. (expositionpark.ca.gov) ### Does the exhibition travel after Los Angeles? The American Federation of Arts itinerary says the retrospective’s Los Angeles run at CAAM ends October 21, 2026, before traveling to the New Orleans Museum of Art from March 20, 2027, to September 5, 2027. The itinerary then lists the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, from October 28, 2027, to May 14, 2028, and the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York, from September 22, 2028, to January 14, 2029. (caamuseum.org) October 21, 2026, is the next key date for Los Angeles visitors. CAAM’s exhibition page lists that as the closing date for “Willie Birch: Stories to Tell,” and the museum’s July 25 public program offers the next scheduled walkthrough tied directly to the show. (caamuseum.org) (amfedarts.org)