Taking Our Place Centerstage (TOPC): The African Diaspora in Harmony
The Ordway's mission includes working outside of Ordway's walls. Our artistic and education programs create opportunities for artists to interact with community organization that support young people and more.
Join our partners in the community while extending your knowledge and learning more about the African Diaspora through African American Art History Workshops. Details below!
John Biggers Seed Project
African American
Art History Workshops
January through March 2014
All
events are free and open to the public at the University of Minnesota Urban Research and
Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC)
2001 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
February 1
Presenter: Suzanne Roberts
9:00
a.m.-10:30 a.m. Artists of the 18th and
19th Century
Explores
the very beginnings of African American art in America., Including art during
slavery, the first professional artists during the antebellum period and the
post emancipation period into the 20th century.
10:30
a.m.-12 noon Art of the Harlem
Renaissance and WPA Period (1920's-1930's)
Examines
the lives and the work of the "New Negro" artists both in Harlem and
across the rest of the country and the impact of the Works Progress
Administration on the development of African American artists.
February 8
Presenter: Suzanne Roberts
9:00
a.m.-10:30 a.m. Photography
Examines the impact of the medium on African
American Art and culture. Follows Jules
Lion as he attends the beginning of the world introduction to photography with
the demonstration of Daguerreotypes in Paris in the summer of 1839 and his
exhibition in the fall of that year; J.P. nationally famous studio in
Cincinnati; to the Harlem Renaissance with James Vander Zee and others; and
contemporary photographers such as Dawoud Bey, Lorna Simpson and Carrie Mae
Weems.
10:30
a.m.-12 noon Quilting and the
Quilters
Traces the evolution of quilting from art created
for utilitarian purposes to the fine art of today and examines works from
Harriet Powers to Gees Bend to Faith Ringgold and the impact of other artists
like John Biggers.
February 22
Presenter: Suzanne Roberts
9:00
a.m.-10:30 a.m. Black Artists at
Mid-Century (1940's-1960's)
Follows
the explosion of the numbers of artists working as professionals, the variety
of artistic styles of expression and the struggle for recognition and
opportunities to have their work viewed publically.
10:30
a.m.-12 noon The Black Art Movement
(BAM 1960's-1970's)
Examines
art created as the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power Movement,
the only art movement created by and for Black people. Visual artists believed that a "change
in vision" in the perception of African American identity could bring
about pride and self- determination.
They also called for a reordering of the western cultural
aesthetic. Work of these artists served
as precursors to post-modernism.
March 1
Presenter: Suzanne Roberts
9:00
a.m.-10:30 a.m. Contemporary Art (1980's-Present)
Explores
post-modernism and the new cultural relativity and inquiries of art and society
through art. Interrogation of black identity, issues of gender and language
became a central part of art. This was first time the work of many African Americans
was considered by mainstream art historians.
10:30
a.m.-12 noon History of Black Artists
in Minnesota (1860's-1970's)
Traces
the lives of artists, the art and the legacy of work produced by artists that
spent time in or lived in Minnesota.
The
John Biggers Seed Project (Seed)
is a public art and collaborative design effort that engages renowned African
American artists in mentoring young emerging artists in placemaking by
educating them about African American art and community history, providing
career development and transferable skills, and creating a sense of place that
speaks to the culture of North Minneapolis.
Seed is inspired by the Celebration
of Life mural, an acclaimed public artwork led by John Biggers, a major
African American artist of the twentieth century, which began the careers of
young artists and organizations (including Obsidian Arts and Juxtaposition
Arts), planting artistic “seeds” on the North Side.
Suzanne Roberts is an art historian, lecturer and
independent scholar specializing in the art and lives of African Americans
artists. She has curated and co-curated
exhibitions such as Protest! at
Intermedia Arts, Afro-Futurism for
Obsidian Arts at the Soap Factory and Exploding
Language in North Minneapolis. She has taught classes and lectured for
various arts organizations including the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She
currently is the art historian for Obsidian Arts.
