Richmond Museum Showcases Art Collection of Swizz Beatz & Alicia Keys

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz recently visited Richmond’s Virginia Fine Arts Museum to support the opening of their new exhibit at the museum called “Giants.”

Keys’ husband, Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Daoud Dean) was born in Richmond. Their new exhibit includes works from the artists’ own collections, including some of the equipment used to produce their music.  It runs Nov. 22 and through March 1, 2026 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and includes around 130 objects and iconic works of art by nearly 40 “giants” of the art world, according to the museum.

The exhibit features many Black and Brown artists because “our own community wasn’t collecting these giants,” said Swizz Beat, in a video interview that explains why the couple started acquiring art. They were “collecting from the heart,” they said.

“What I found most intriguing about this exhibition is that it wasn’t just a vanity project,” said Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator of the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “Their collection was not just transactional, that they had relationships with artists, they provided platforms for those artists, and they all want to share that collection with the public, to let them understand the possibilities that exist, the Giants inside of all of us.”

In addition to paintings, photographs, and sculptures, VMFA visitors can expect to see the Deans’ albums, musical equipment, and BMX bikes.

Oliver said, “I hope [museum guests] will see works that move them, that speak to them, that they will want to come back and see again and again. I hope that it inspires them that they really understand the power of creative expression, however they choose to express themselves. What’s wonderful about Richmond is that, in my opinion, it’s a city that is still transforming. This museum in particular has been a big part of that transformation. So to continue that conversation going, we want to be as an institution, a museum for all people, for all Virginians. And we really want people to understand the transformative power of art. So it just aligned so closely with the ethos of this institution.”

“Giants” debuted at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2024 and was curated by Kimberli Gant, its curator of modern and contemporary art, and a former curator at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk.

“In a moment when there is an attempt to suppress diverse narratives in art and culture, ‘Giants’ underscores the significance of artists to tell their stories, celebrate life, build upon our creative vitality and resist erasure,” Oliver said.

The Deans began collecting art more than 20 years ago, and have endeavored to support living artists. “Their shared passion for collecting, advocating and building community among artists – particularly artists of color – is at the heart of their audacious and ambitious collection,” noted the VMFA on its website.

Tickets for the exhibition are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65+, and $8 for youth ages 7–17 and college students with ID.