Perspectives on the Past
Selections from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art
Barbara Crawford Gallery, Chestnut Hill Academy
January 11 – March 8, 2024
Perspectives on the Past brings together over 20 paintings, prints, photographs, mixed media works, and sculptures by 14 internationally recognized artists of African descent that address defining moments and concepts in American history. Focusing on historical figures and events as well as cultural memories from familial and ancestral pasts, the work in this exhibition expands the limits of what has conventionally been labeled as “American history” by reconsidering familiar moments in the nation’s past and introducing lesser-known narratives. All selections are drawn from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art whose mission is to “bring focus to the full range of African American visual creativity and its essential place in the history and discourse of American art.”
Educational programming includes assemblies with the guest curator, Susanna Gold, and workshops with Class of 1957 Resident Artist, Tawny Chatmon, as well as connections to the Arts, History, Language, AEIOU & Pollyanna curricula. The gallery will not only host this powerful work but it will become a dynamic space for gallery talks for the SCH and larger community during SCH’s MLK Jr. Morning of Service.
To learn more about the artists and works on display in this show, please refer to the Perspective on the Past Gallery Guide.
Image: June Edmonds, Four Years in the White House Flag, 2019-2021, acrylic on linen, 96” x 60”
Mobility: African American Artists Abroad
Selections from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art
Truman State University Art Gallery
January 23, 2024 – March 1, 2024
Curated, researched, and written by Truman State University students, Mobility: African American Artsts Abroad explores how, by going abroad, African American artists from the nineteenth century to the present have broadened their spheres of influence and been emboldened by their travels to experiment with new techniques, content, and styles.
This exhibition is part of PFF’s educational initiative that enables college students to have hands-on curatorial experience with objects from the PFF Collection. Heidi Cook, Ph.D., worked with students over the course of three semesters to research, plan, and design the exhibition. As a result of their collective efforts, Mobility is our largest student-curated exhibition to date, spanning 50 works from the collection.
Image: Herman “Kofi” Bailey, African Trader, 1970, Charcoal and graphite on paper, 47″ x 38″
Claiming Freedom
Selections from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art
Lafayette College, Skillman Library
Spring Semester: January through June
Drawing inspiration from Annette Gordon Reed’s On Juneteenth, this exhibition seeks to highlight the tension present in commemorating the past, celebrating progress, and acknowledging the urgent need for further change. Claiming Freedom begins with a focus on resistance and remembrance across decades, from paintings that reflect on the Amistad Rebellion to prints featuring contemporary Civil Rights movements, such as Black Lives Matter. The second portion of the exhibition holds space for inward reflection, healing, and celebration of Black creativity. As the title implies, the claim to freedom includes freedom from oppression and the freedom to thrive in this nation. The works that were selected for this exhibition address both conceptual frameworks of what it means to be free.
Claiming Freedom spans over 20 pieces, including work by legacy artists, such as Emma Amos, James Van Der Zee, and John Biggers. It also includes contemporary artists, such as Titus Kaphar, LaToya Hobbs, and Allison Janae Hamilton.
Image: Delita Martin, Let Me Breathe, 2020, Print, 36″ x 24″