Reception with Peter Kunhardt, Jr.

Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., is the Executive Director of The Gordon Parks Foundation, which he has guided in expanding its national influence through major educational and cultural initiatives. Under his leadership, the Foundation has established scholarships, fellowships, and prizes—awarding a total of more than $4 million so far to students and artists—and has organized the Gordon Parks Foundation / Steidl Book Prize with German publisher Gerhard Steidl to showcase the work of particular artists. Kunhardt launched the Gordon Parks Arts and Social Justice Fund to support creative work at the intersection of art and activism. Most recently he initiated the Gordon Parks Legacy Acquisitions Fund to build the Foundation’s permanent collection for mid- and later-career photographers inspired by Gordon Parks whose work has been underrecognized.

As series editor for Gordon Parks Foundation / Steidl publications, Kunhardt has overseen and contributed to more than twenty-five books and catalogues. His recent editorial work includes Gordon Parks: Pastor E. F. Ledbetter and the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, 1953; Gordon Parks: Herklas Brown and Maine, 1944; Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe: South Africa, 1977/1978; Devin Allen: Baltimore; Ralph Ellison Photographer; Jamel Shabazz: Albums; and LaToya Ruby Frazier: Flint Is Family In Three Acts. He also co-edited the multivolume Gordon Parks: Collected Works.