5 art exhibits you should check out this season
Paul Laurence Dunbar is focus of exhibit at EbonNia Gallery.
Art exhibits around Dayton and from Dayton artists showcase themes such as love, loss, remembrance, activism, honor and heritage.
Here are five exhibits to keep on your radar this season:
Visual Voices: In Praise of Dunbar: Yesterday and Today
Visual Voices, an annual assemblage of African American artists, returns for “In Praise of Dunbar: Yesterday and Today,” continuing through March 31 at EbonNia Gallery.
Curated by Willis “Bing” Davis, the exhibit, which opened Feb. 12, is a collection inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s literary works or aspects of his life that speaks not only to yesterday but to the social concerns of today. The goal is to allow viewers to see, feel and appreciate how Dunbar’s legacy mirrors today’s perspectives on family, community, work, crime, war, race, history, love and death.
The exhibiting artists are: Abner Cope; Andrea Walker-Cummings; the aforementioned Davis; Clifford Darrett; Craig Screven; Derrick Davis; Dwayne Daniel; Erin Smith-Glenn; Gregg DeGroat; Greg Changa Freeman; Horace Dozier; James Pate; Kevin Harris; Morris Howard; Reginald Harmon; Ronald Duckett; Yvette Walker-Dalton; and Lois Fortson Kirk.
The gallery is located at 1135 W. Third St. in Dayton.
Clarice Moore’s work
Remembrance is at the heart of one of Beavercreek artist Clarice Moore’s paintings— she’s putting the forgotten on display all the way over in Chicago.
Moore’s work was selected for the Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition, the nation’s longest-running African American art exhibits, at the Museum of Science+Industry in Chicago.
“Ascension of Souls,” her oil on canvas representation of the “unavenged and forgotten” as they ascend to heaven, has been hanging in the museum for a few weeks and will remain in the exhibit until the gallery closes April 23. The 16-by20 inch canvas only took Moore a few painting sessions to bring her vision to the canvas.
“The inspiration for my painting came from the sad news we get so often of people’s lives being cut short without accountability,” Moore said. “The painting gives [a] voice to the voiceless— that they’re not forgotten!”
Her work can also be found at the Dayton Metro Library—West Branch at 300 Abbey Ave. in Dayton.
HAIRitage: A Cultural Journey & Experience
The Dayton Society of Artists (DSA) is highlighting the history and cultural impacts of hair in its latest exhibit.
“HAIRitage: A Cultural Journey & Experience,” a collection created and curated by artist Erin Smith, will be a “celebration of hair and adornment culture, hair as a community resource, Black hair history, BIPOC hair as a form of protest and of course, hair as