The University of Mary Washington’s Ridderhof Martin and duPont Galleries have been host to the exhibit Healing Through the Preservation of Our Histories and Our Selves, January 27-March 24, 2022. This exhibition of modern and contemporary works from The Petrucci Family Foundation’s Collection of African American Art provides an opportunity to acknowledge tensions, consider the need to preserve African American stories, and find meaning and reconciliation through the experience.
For UMW art students Caliyah Ash, Jasmine Folson, Jordan Hadler, and Lauryn Taylor it also provided hands-on experience to work with their instructor Ashe Laughlin to help with the curation of pieces for the exhibit. Caliyah Ash commented:
It was just the beginning of the fall semester when Laughlin asked if I would participate in selecting art for an exhibit coming in February. Little did I know how impactful participating would be for me. To resonate with the selected pieces is an understatement of how each piece made me feel. A group of Black students, including myself, carefully chose the right pieces of art out of hundreds that could both represent our community and grasp the theme of healing. Plenty of paintings, drawings, and more spoke to us; it was not an easy task, only choosing the selected few.
Another student, Jasmine Folson, added:
The exhibition, “Healing Through the Preservation of Our Histories and Our Selves”, which I helped curate, is important to me for a number of different reasons. As an African American artist and woman, I don’t typically see the work of African Americans, nor have I seen many depictions of African American people in art either. Seeing all this work in person and being able to participate in writing for the catalog – was healing firsthand and what the artist I interviewed for the catalog had to say was very eye opening for me. Because of this experience, I will go on to create artwork of my own which I hope will foster a sense of healing and impact the lives of others!
In addition to curating the exhibit, the students and Professor Laughlin recently presented on their work at the panel “A Discussion on Feminist Art” featuring Myrtis Bedolla (Founding Director, Galerie Myrtis) and Ify Chiejina (Artist) moderated by Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim, held has part of UMW’s Women’s History Month celebration.
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