Curated by noted artist and photographic historian Deborah Willis, Posing Beauty in African American Culture explores the contested ways in which African and African American beauty have been represented in historical and contemporary contexts through a diverse range of media including photography, film, video, fashion, advertising, and other forms of popular culture such as music and the Internet. Throughout the Western history of art and image-making, the relationship between beauty and art has become increasingly complex within contemporary art and popular culture.

Posing Beauty challenges contemporary understandings of beauty by framing notions of aesthetics, race, class, and gender within art, popular culture, and politics.

The exhibition provided extensive educational materials and in selected venues, i.e. Everhart Museum, invited the students to create artworks inspired by their own perceptions of identity and beauty. Through these collaborative efforts, the curator and venues were able to nurture creativity and showcase artistic excellence in the community.