Freedom Exhibition

Where injustice exists 

The work of freedom begins 

My piece is an artist book called Freedom Made, inspired by the story behind the making of the Freedom Quilt by Jessie Telfair. Jessie Telfair lived and worked in Georgia when she made her Freedom quilt. She made the Freedom Quilt as a declaration of her inherent worth and freedoms despite living through segregation and voter suppression during the Civil Rights era. Inspired to vote due to the efforts of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, she registered to vote, and then she was fired from her job. She experienced pain and loss from this injustice. I want my piece to remind viewers that we are invited to join in ensuring one another’s freedoms, just as Telfair’s friends and quilter community rallied to her side to encourage her to make her pain into art. We, too, are caretakers of one another. We can collectively ensure one another's freedoms as well.  And because we belong to one another, we work together for freedom.  May Justice and freedom be made for all, And may we notice when freedoms are lost so we can work to restore them. There is room at this quilt for you too.

As an artist, I draw inspiration from the works of others who have used their craft to highlight their personal struggles and triumphs. Quilter Jessie Telfair's FREEDOM quilt, created in response to being fired for exercising her right to vote, resonates deeply with me. With my own artistic practice, I sought to pay homage to Telfair's bold affirmation of her rights and freedoms. Using typography, I carved out the word "freedom" in my favorite font and printed it onto red, white, and blue fabric. To further convey a sense of struggle and resilience, I tore the fabric into strips and sewed them onto a piece of felt. However, my artistic process was not without its challenges. I constantly reevaluated my approach, seeking to add additional layers of meaning and symbolism to my work. After being inspired by the work of Consuelo Jimenez, I decided to incorporate safety pins into the final piece, symbolizing the need for continued vigilance in the fight for freedom and equality. Ultimately, my art seeks to capture the spirit of Telfair's original work while reflecting on the ongoing struggle for individual and collective liberation.

I first encountered this piece at the National Museum for African American History and Culture three years ago. It has never left me. I tried to understand, but how could I possibly know? The Community Roundtable Project participants, led by Sarah Matthews, traveled together to visit the NMAAHC. As I witnessed story after story, I began to reflect on what enslaved women found to be essential, what they had, and what they saved. What was made as a celebration and for survival? I began to research the archives and uncovered more enslaved women’s stories. I saw a bill of sale for Nellie and her four children. There was Flora, the 19-year-old woman whose image remains for us to see in a silhouette of her profile and the bill of sale for her handwritten and signed over to her new owner. How could I possibly know? Harriet Jacobs, a formally enslaved woman, wrote that we could not know slavery. We just do not have that capacity, living in this time, generations removed. But in the unknowing, there is a place for empathy and imagination to turn into action. Imagination to witness, share, and shine a bright light onto tattered pieces of information, relics, and historical artifacts. All the while knowing that much of history is written through a white male lens. How could we possibly know? This artist's book is a translation of my reactions to witnessing the horror of slavery from a historical perspective that begins with the slave trade and moves deliberately to more personalized depictions of enslaved women. I took found imagery from the museum and archives and made digital collages. The materials are all that I had on hand: scraps of paper, linen, thread, ink, and inkjet collages. I worked intensely but without second-guessing myself, as if I had only moments to complete how I felt. It is a spare book, torn pieces of paper, thread, and needle with a cloth sack cover. She never saw her again…. Reminding us, how could we ever know? This book is not finished, an intentional act, as our history of racism goes on. What is broken, open, unfinished, and vulnerable is laid bare in this book. Its call is for us to witness and to act. To continue the difficult work of mending our history to make a new whole.

Machine pieced hand-quilted cotton and linen with embroidered medallions and names of extraordinary women who shaped our cultural, historical, political, and artistic landscape since Queen Nzingha in the 17th. Inspired by several quilts, the work of Amy Sherald*, along with many exhibitions at the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Made with materials on hand, it honors the art, craft, and utility of using remnant textiles for practical and symbolic purposes. *awaiting permission to use her work on "The Queens" #2

"Liberty is Black" mixed media on canvas. It combines the elements of layering, collage, stenciling, metallic foils, and plaster to reimagine the American flag. It's a visual story depicting how enslaved and free Black women advanced liberty by testing it's boundaries and scope. "Liberty is Black" pays homage to Elizabeth Freeman, the first enslaved Black woman to file a lawsuit for freedom and win in the state of Massachusetts in 1783. Motivated by the declaration, "mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent of each other, and have the right the undisturbed enjoyment of their lives, their liberty and property". Elizabeth Freeman's belief in liberty and bravery is the legacy that Black women continue to uphold and push today.

Stéphane’s outlook and artistic expression are marked by the various cultural influences of her Haitian roots, her upbringing in France, and her adult life in the United States and the African continent. Whether in the figurative or the abstract form, Stéphane’s work is strongly informed by her personal experience growing up in political exile and by multiculturalism. In her fine art, she explores issues of social justice, Black identity plurality, and the passage of time: what stays, what goes, and how fast we live. She often seeks refuge in the simple joys brought by botanical watercolors, unencumbered by human strife. Still, Stéphane favors working in mixed media, a slow and tactile process whereby each medium channels a different sensibility, which brings the finished piece to a place where it can rest and complete.

This stoneware sculpture, reflective of female reproductive organs, is mounted on an embroidered black and white background and contained in a shadow box.

My linocut, “At the Museum,” is stronger and more dramatic than my previous work in printmaking. The Community Roundtable format and the visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture emboldened me. Sarah Matthews was encouraging in leading the Roundtable, Pam Heemskerk was so supportive, and the artist participants were so congenial - even though we each worked in different mediums and styles. I have always been interested in artists whose work reflects absorption with social issues. Elizabeth Catlett is my favorite. Her work truly catalyzes understanding demands for justice, fairness, and humanity. After visiting the museum, I researched more of her work and was inspired to attempt a convergence of images as she had done in a lithograph. My relief print isn’t like Catlett’s print, but I think it shows the connection between individuals sharing a focus on exhibits at the museum. Sarah asked about the dominant feelings that stayed with us from our excursion. I had been struck by the intent concentration observed in visitors of every age. That intensity, which I experienced, was so impressive that I can recollect it months later. Such total engagement with art is seldom seen at other museums. It is what I hope is conveyed by my work. I am grateful to Riverworks Art Center for beautifully inaugurating the Roundtable format and bringing many wonderful art experiences to the community.

Inspired by work in the recent A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration exhibition at the BMA and From Absence to Presence on the campus of St. Mary's College of Maryland, this piece holds my intention to continue to look closely at systemic injustices, how I show up in the world, and recommits me to taking action to address my own racism and privilege. Being in a daily relationship with this piece, I experience accountability and the call to keep looking, inviting, and tolerating fracture while working toward new forms and anti-racist work in and with the community.

(left to right) Sarah Matthews, Pam Heemskerk, Ellen Letourneau, Malinda Pierce, Leslie B. Nesbitt

(left to right) Sarah Matthews, Ellen Letourneau, Pam Heemskerk, Ann Neslen, Malinda Pierce, Cathy Goucher, Stephane Calvin

(left to right) Sarah Matthews, Ann Neslen, Pam Heemskerk, Malinda Pierce, Stephane Calvin, Ellen Letourneau, Leslie B. Nesbitt

(left to right) Ellen Letourneau, Ruth Gainer, Cathy Goucher, Pam Heemskerk, Stephane Calvin, Sarah Matthews

Ruth Gainer

(left to right) , Ruth Gainer, Ellen Letourneau, Pam Heemskerk, Cathy Goucher, Stephane Calvin, Sarah Matthews, Ann Neslen, Malinda Pierce

In Gallery II

In Gallery II

In Gallery II

In Gallery II