Browse Exhibits (3 total)

The Silent Intensity: African Americans in Southeast Missouri Farms

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For Immediate Release

The Arts At Page Library Presents its African American History Month Exhibiton | A Retrospective Look, The Silent Intensity: African Americans in Southeast Missouri Farms

 

Southeast Missouri Farms

Jefferson City, Missouri – (February 2017) –The Arts At Page Library presents their online African American history, photography exhibition entitled, The Silent Intensity: African Americans in Southeast Missouri Farms. The online exhibition features an array of documentary photographs that tell a story about the conditions during the Great Depression, in which African Americans lived and worked as sharecroppers in the state of Missouri. The exhibition is available to the public from February 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017.

The Silent Intensity: African Americans in Southeast Missouri Farms, visually documents the lives of African American sharecroppers from the Great Depression that migrated from the south during 1900 and 1920, in search of work in Southeast Missouri’s Bootheel. Many of the workers were recruited from Mississippi and promised land to farm. Landowners contributed the seed, the farm implements, mules, and meager housing while the sharecropper worked the land from planting to harvest. Black workers were offered little money to support their families. The stock market crashed when the cotton market fell apart, and planter proprietors no longer needed sharecroppers and by the thousands African American workers in the Bootheel were evicted.  President Roosevelt created the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1937, created to fight American rural poverty and aid farmers, sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and migrant workers.

Farm laborers turned to the federal government for help and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration an agency housed under the (FSA) funded the construction of 100 + agricultural communities. One of these communities, called Southeast Missouri Farms, was located on 6,700 acres outside of New Madrid in the small town of La Forge. In 1937, the Farm Security Administration provided housing for 100 displaced (40 black and 60 white) sharecropper families in southeast Missouri. Sharecropper communities were segregated, giving rise to racial tensions. Consequently, African American families created cooperative communities to help each other survive. The Farm Security Administration (FSA) through a photography unit with an odd name – the “Historical Section”, would document their lives.

From 1035-1944, photographers were hired solely for their skills, most in their twenties or thirties, and they traveled on assignment for months. Eleven photographers were given assignments to document the plight of poor farmers and sharecroppers for the “Historical Project”. Russell Lee, a white photographer is credited as being one the photographers that documented African Americans in southeast Missouri, and Gordon Parks was the only African American photographer commissioned to capture the lives of African Americans during the economic drought in the United States. The photographers that were chosen to document the lives of many during the Great Depression created a realist point of view and wanted to move the American public and the government to take action regarding the conditions that were taking place.

The exhibition features over twenty documentary photographic images, and accompanied by educational materials that can be used for historical discussions and course assignments. Additionally, a special section of the exhibition features images taken by Gordon Parks. Visit http://theartsatpagelibrary.omeka.net to view the online exhibition and to download free resources for research purposes.

The Silent Intensity: African Americans in Southeast Missouri Farms, was organized by The Arts At Page Library. Research for this exhibition derives from open source materials from Umbra Search, The New York Public Domain, and the Library of Congress Public Domain.

Exhibition Details

View Online: February 1, 2017 thru February 28, 2017

Access: http://theartsatpagelibrary.omeka.net

 

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Founded in August 2016, The Arts At Page Library is a library arts program and space, located at Inman E. Page Library, Lincoln University Missouri. The art program was designed to expose students, faculty and the community to cultural artistry at a Historical Black College University Library.

The Arts At Page Library is a premier space that provides creative educational programming, physical and online exhibitions, and access to an African American art book collection, library art tours and a university academic library for research and lecture series. Visit the online exhibition space 365 days a year! Share our latest exhibit with your students and community members.

For more information about The Arts At Page Library Online Exhibition space contact, The Arts At Page Library Art Coordinator, kYmberly Keeton at (573) 681-5513 |  theartsatpagelibrary@gmail.com.

The Photography of Berenice Abbott: The Harlem Community Art Center, Changing New York

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For Immediate Release

The Arts At Page Library Presents its Winter 2016 Exhibition, The Photography of Berenice Abbott, The Harlem Community Art Center, Changing New York

December 19, 2016 - January 30, 2017

 

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Jefferson City, MO--The Arts At Page Library - Online Exhibition Space presents a unique up close and personal exhibition featuring the photography of Berenice Abbott - a critically acclaimed photographer on December 19, 2016, on view until January 30, 2017. The Photography of Berenice Abbott, The Harlem Community Art Center, Changing New York will feature nearly 20 images taken by the artist during the Great Depression. In addition, the exhibition will feature public domain archival materials, including a book excerpt, a video documentary created by an independent artist, a cumulative report about the center by Gwendolyn Bennett, and posters from the Harlem Renaissance, Federal Arts Project (FAP). Berenice Abbott’s photography empowered people; she was coined with the adage, “Feminist Pioneer of NYC Photography” and “The Photographer of New York” by her peers.

Born in 1898 in Springfield, Ohio, Berenice Abbott was one of the first American photographers to have the opportunity to document the Great Depression as an artist project supervisor for the Federal Art Project (FAP). The artist’s journey began at the University of Ohio, where she studied theater and sculpture. She left the university in 1918 to pursue her full-time career as an artist. In 1921, she sailed to France and lived abroad for two years, where she was hired to work for the famous French photographer Man Ray, as his darkroom assistant. Thereafter, she branched out on her own, and in 1929, Berenice Abbott moved back to New York and began producing a photo project, Changing New York, hired by the Federal Art Project to complete the documentary. The photographer captured a segment about black life and the community arts in Harlem, New York in her body of work.

Berenice Abbott’s work focused mainly on urban architecture; she produced 305 images for the photo documentary project. Her methodology regarding the project included it being a sociological study embedded within the modernist aesthetic process. The artist wanted to capture three things in her photos: the diverse people of the city, the places they lived, worked, and played and daily activities. Her images of Harlem, New York take the audience on an intricate journey depicting African American life during the Great Depression and as a community of artistic dwellers. The Harlem Community Arts Center was a federally funded community center, sponsored by the Federal Arts Project (FAP), led first by Augusta Savage, and Gwendolyn Bennett assumed the role afterward.

The idea to start the Harlem Community Art Center formed amongst African American group members of the Harlem Arts Guild. Their mission was to provide a community space free to all, making art instruction accessible - art central to the community. From 1937-1942 the community arts center collaborated with the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library on community workshops and with the Harlem YMCA, where they offered free art classes. Artists who taught or studied at the center include Charles Alston, Henry Bannarn, Romare Bearden, Selma Burke, Ernest Crichlow, Aaron Douglas, Elton Fax, Sargent Johnson, William Henry Johnson, Langston Hughes, Ronald Joseph, Robert Blackburn, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, and Claude McKay. According to Wikipedia, “The Harlem Community Art Center had a multiethnic faculty and a diverse student population was also diverse. Students ranged from established Harlem artists to children from New York psychiatric hospitals who benefitted from creative activities.”

Each photo taken by Berenice Abbott regarding the cultural arts renaissance at the center features a young student working in his or her medium in that moment. All of her images show strong contrasts and dramatic angles.

The Photography of Berenice Abbott, The Harlem Community Art Center, Changing New York is an impressive body of work that provides the audience with an opportunity to go back in time and view young artists in training during a major African American cultural arts movement. In addition, the photographer went to the streets of Harlem, where she captured photos about African American life on an average day. There are enough images and archival materials to keep art enthusiasts, photographers, and the like engaged for days.

Highlights of the exhibition include, an exclusive cumulative report entitled, The Harlem Community Art Center, by Gwendolyn Bennett, Director from 1938-1941, of the Harlem Community Art Center.

A bonus of the show, download a vintage Harlem Community Art Center (FAP) poster - free without restrictions.

This exhibition is organized by The Arts At Page Library and supported by the New York Public Library Domain.

Exhibition Details

View Online: December 19, 2016, thru January 30, 2017

Access Exhibition: 

http://theartsatpagelibrary.omeka.net/exhibits/show/the-photography-of-berenice-ab

About The Arts At Page Library

Founded in August 2016, The Arts At Page Library is a library arts program and space, located at Inman E. Page Library, Lincoln University Missouri. The art program was designed to expose students, faculty and the community to cultural artistry at a Historical Black College University Library.

Through the leadership of the Arts Library Coordinator, the Advisory Arts Committee, and Student Docents, The Arts At Page Library is a premier space that provides creative educational programming, physical and online exhibitions, and access to an African American art book collection, library art tours and a university academic library for research and lecture series.

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For more images and more information, contact:

kYmberly Keeton, Arts Library Coordinator, 573-681-5513, theartsatpagelibrary@gmail.com

The Arts At Page Library acknowledges the generous support of its Arts and Culture Advisory Board and the Lincoln University Missouri Administration

Part I: Acts with Seated Experience Online Art Exhibition

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For Immediate Release

The Arts At Page Library Presents its Fall 2016 Exhibition, Part 1: Acts of Seated Experience

September 22 thru December 1, 2016

 

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Jefferson City, MO—Join The Arts At Page Library for an exclusive look at artwork by artists that participated in the Federal Art Project, the visual arm of the Great Depression-era The Works Progress Administration that lasted from 1935-1943. The exhibition created to commemorate the work, Part 1: Acts of Seated Experience online art exhibition. There are 10 artists featured including Charles Alston, G. Kahn, Saul Kovner, Dayton Brandfield and Solomon Eytinge, G.G. Fish, Bernard P. Schardt, Joseph Leboit, Nan Lurie and Elizabeth Olds. Art patrons will relish in an archived oral history interview with WPA artist Charles Alston an African American educator, sculptor, and draftsman (artist).

The Federal Art Project was created to help artists with relief who were suffering during the Great Depression. These artists were from various backgrounds in the visual arts with different skill levels. Funded under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, The Federal Art Project operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. The Federal Art Project became a cultural and educational network for African American artists, writers, literary gurus, and scholars. The majority of artists given assignments or jobs were from the northern region of the United States. The African American Registry states on its website, “An editorial in Opportunity Magazine in 1939 credited the WPA in northern cities with giving qualified Blacks their first chance at employment in white-collar positions. Alain Locke, an early chronicler of the Harlem Renaissance, attributed its survival during the 1930’s to the WPA. The WPA also funded Black acting troupes. The Negro Theatre Project staged Walk Together Chillun by Frank Wilson at the Lafayette Theatre through the WPA.”

The Arts At Page Library Coordinator, kYmberly Keeton, M.L.S., researched numerous art pieces through the New York Public Library’s Public Domain Collection and works featured in this exhibition have been selected for the first time to be shown to the public by an academic library. Part 1: Acts of Seated Experience pays homage to the Federal Art Project artists that received little to no exposure or notoriety as contributors to the art world when they were alive. Each piece of art featured in Part 1: Acts of Seated Experience tells a story without words, which will draw audiences in and provide an opportunity to step back in time, and become engaged with history.

Exhibition Details

View Online: September 22 thru December 1, 2016

Access Archived Exhibition: 

http://theartsatpagelibrary.omeka.net/exhibits/show/part-i--acts-with-seated-exper

This exhibition is organized by The Arts At Page Library and supported by the New York Public Library Domain.

About The Arts At Page Library

Founded in August 2016, The Arts At Page Library is a library arts program and space, located at Inman E. Page Library, Lincoln University Missouri. The art program was designed to expose students, faculty and the community to cultural artistry at a Historical Black College University Library.

Through the leadership of the Arts Library Coordinator, the Advisory Arts Committee, and Student Docents, The Arts At Page Library is a premier space that provides creative educational programming, physical and online exhibitions, and access to an African American art book collection, library art tours and a university academic library for research and lecture series.

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For more images and more information, contact:

kYmberly Keeton, Arts Library Coordinator, 573-681-5513, theartsatpagelibrary@gmail.com

The Arts At Page Library acknowledges the generous support of its Arts and Culture Advisory Board and the Lincoln University Missouri Administration.