African American history is American history – they are intrinsically entwined. The series of drawings entitled BLACK FIELDS honors our ancestors for the price they paid for our freedom, and it is a telling of our history through the crops cultivated by enslaved Africans and African Americans. The roots of our history are literally in the fields of the American South. Crops such as rice, yams, and black-eyed peas were brought to this country as a way to feed captured Africans taken to North America as enslaved people. The money-making crops for land owners were rice, tobacco, cotton and sugar – all of which were cultivated by enslaved labor. This “free labor” made Southern land owners incredibly rich, which in turn brought great wealth to America. Sometimes examining American history is uncomfortable, but we can learn important lessons from the past. -Marjorie Williams-Smith
BLACK FIELDS: Crops Cultivated By Africans Who Were Enslaved; Cotton ,Tobacco, Rice, and Sugar
Exhibition Dates : September 19, 2024 - November 23, 2024
Artist Reception : Friday, October 11, 2024
Artist Talk : Saturday, October 12, 2024
Additional Programming:
2nd Friday Art Night : Friday, November 8, 2024
Silverpoint Demonstration : Saturday, November 9, 2024
Zoom Artist Talk - To Be Announced
