
Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts
The Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA) is the Museum’s home of visual culture and innovation. Through its changing exhibitions, public programs, and publications, CAAMA showcases the formation of African American history and culture through media arts, including photography, film, video, and audio recordings.
The CAAMA gallery is located on the Museum’s 2nd floor and contains rotating temporary media arts exhibitions.
Collection Highlights
CAAMA holds the largest collection of objects in the museum, including more than 25,000 photographs and time-based media such as film, video, and audio recordings.
Recent Exhibitions
CAAMA’s most recent exhibition, Now Showing: Posters from African American Movies, was on view from November 22, 2019 – December 5, 2021.
![A lobby card with a color image of a woman on the right side with wavy brown hair and a blue top with green pants sitting with her left hand up to her mouth. Another woman on the left has curly hair and is wearing a brimmed hat, pearl earrings, a brown dress, gloves, and a fur stole. There is a blue box below it with white text that reads [CLAUDETTE / Colbert / in / Fannie Hurst’s GREAT NOVEL / IMITATION of LIFE].](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_manual_crop_style/public/images/slideshow/nmaahc-2013_118_115_2_001_1_0.jpg?itok=d9OOz3LU)
Now Showing
Now Showing: Posters from African American Movies explores the art of movie posters, specifically examining films by black filmmakers or works featuring black performers. The exhibition is on view from November 22, 2019 – December 5, 2021.
Past Exhibitions
Public Programs
CAAMA hosts a variety of ongoing public programs celebrating and exploring African American media arts including screenings, the Cinema + Conversation film series, the Smithsonian African American Film Festival, and symposia.
Publications

“Double Exposure” Series
Double Exposure, a multi-volume series based on the Museum's photography collection, explores inaugural exhibition themes. Each of the seven volumes features about 50 photographs, a foreword by Founding Director Lonnie Bunch, and an essay by a topic specialist.
Volume Titles:
I. Through the African American Lens
II. Civil Rights and the Promise of Equality
III. African American Women
IV. Picturing Children
V. Fighting for Freedom
VI. Everyday Beauty
VII. Pictures with Purpose
The power of photographs is not only the ability to depict events, but to bring human scale to those experiences. Lonnie G. Bunch III Founding Director
The CAAMA Collection
Explore our collection of images, film, and audio.