Large private collection of African American art comes to Cincinnati's Taft Museum

Kerry and Betty Davis worked everyday kinds of jobs before retiring — he was a postal worker; she was a TV news producer. But even on middle class salaries, they've collected more than 300 works from world-renowned Black artists over the last 35 years.

Starting Saturday, 67 of those paintings, photographs and other works will be on display at the Taft Museum. Curator Tamara Muente says it's vital the public be able to see the collection.

"When they would invite their own friends and family into their home to enjoy the work they collected, their friends remarked that they rarely visited museums because they couldn't see themselves there," Muente says about the couple. "I think that's an important reason why we bring shows like this to the Taft."