A re-examinination of the Civil Rights Movement
Skidmore students are re-examining the Civil Rights Movement through visual art and will present their research on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Tang Teaching Museum. The student presentations will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Winter Gallery and will be followed by a reception. The event is free and open to the public.
Photos in the Hope and Anger show
Students in the American studies course Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Civil Rights Movement are exploring the dominant narratives of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and the shifting perceptions of those narratives over time through the examination of the work of such artists as Andy Warhol, Kara Walker, Rashid Johnson, and Danny Lyon.
These works and more are on view at the Tang Museum through Feb. 15 in the exhibition Hope and Anger–The Civil Rights Movement and Beyond. The show was curated by Rachel Seligman '91, assistant director for curatorial affairs at the Tang, and Megan Williams '04, visiting assistant professor of American studies, who is teaching the course related to the show.
“By presenting everyday activists; movement leaders like Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Martin Luther King Jr.; and other images evoking oppression and its legacy, the works in the exhibition suggest the multiplicity of voices and experiences that contributed to this period of intense activism,” wrote the curators in a description of the show. “The paintings, prints, and photographs raise numerous questions: How do we come to understand important historical moments? Which voices dominate, which are silenced, and why? How could a nation ‘conceived in liberty’ have persisted in denying basic rights to a significant percentage of its population? And what is the relationship between this historical moment and our contemporary struggle for social justice? ”
The students' research will form the basis for a new brochure with an analysis of each work in the exhibition. The brochures will be available to museum visitors.
Support for the exhibition was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Friends of the Tang.
For more information, call 518-580-8080 or click here.
