Lewis Watts

Lewis Watts is a photographer, archivist/curator and Professor Emeritus of Art at UC Santa Cruz. His work centers around the “cultural landscape” primarily in communities occupied by people of African descent. He is the co-author of “Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era” (2006, 2017) and “New Orleans Suite: Music and Culture in Transition” UC Press (2013). His work has been exhibited at and/or is in the collections of: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Citè de La Musique, Paris France, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, The Oakland Museum of California, The Amistad Center for Art and Culture, Hartford, Conn and the Newburger Museum of Art, Purchase NY among others.

Selected Work

Artist News

Solo Exhibition

Lewis Watts: Comfortable in Their Own Skin

Bolinas Museum, CA
February 4 – April 2, 2023

Artist Talk | February 25, 2PM
Murals of black and white photographs by Lewis Watts installed on street in Oakland, CA
Street Mural Installation

@ 3001 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA

Some of Lewis Watts’ photographs of West Oakland taken in the 1990’s are now on view on San Pablo Ave. 

Exhibitions