Andre Jacobs, a master of fine arts student at Norfolk State University, stood next to “Boo-Hoo,” one of Kara Walker’s iconic silhouettes, as he gave an off-the-cuff interview for an Instagram audience.
He was explaining the meaning of the work and how it has inspired him as an oil painter; Jacobs shared that Walker challenges “racism, sexism and the sexualization of Black women’s bodies,” but not by creating “a counternarrative,” as many other artists do.
Walker used the black silhouette format, which was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. She depicted a Black woman in period dress crying as she holds in one hand a whip as a symbol of the atrocities of slavery and, in the other, a snake as a biblical reference to seduction. In this way, said Jacobs, she “walked right into the fire” by putting “everything right in front of you: how you are portrayed, how you are received.”
The print is included in the recently installed “Define Yourself!” at NSU’s James Wise Gallery. The collection is part of the Atlantic Coast Cohort, an exhibition-sharing partnership between the Chrysler Museum of Art and three historically Black colleges and universities in the region. Funded by the Art Bridges Foundation, the program expands access to and conversations about American art among diverse audiences. On college campuses, expanding visual literacy and involving students in the curatorial process are key features.
The Chrysler launched the initiative a year ago to share modern and contemporary art with Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland and NSU.
Led by Chelsea Pierce, the Chrysler’s McKinnon curator of modern and contemporary art, and Nyree Dowdy, curatorial fellow with the Art Bridges Foundation, this traveling exhibition explores Black identity, drawing its inspiration from James Baldwin’s 1963 book, “The Fire Next Time.” In the book, Baldwin warns the Black community that those who do not define themselves risk being defined by others.
The core exhibition features 15 works in a range of media and styles. Thirteen of those are by Black artists, from Emma Amos to William Villalongo, and two are by white artists, Billy Morrow Jackson and Carl Van Vechten. Other components of the show include title wall text and “The Black Image in Media” timeline, researched by Dowdy and Pierce and designed by Cassie Rangel, Chrysler’s creative services manager.
Also included are text panels for what Dowdy describes as three “somewhat fluid” sections within the show: “Miss Black America,” “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” and “The Black Image in the White Imagination.”
The first section is a reference to Curtis Mayfield’s 1970 song of the same title, in which a young girl is asked what she wants to be when she grows up and she responds, “Miss Black America.” The second refers to the original 1969 recording of the same name by Nina Simone and the third to W. E. B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness or a fragmented identity, Black and American.
The Art Bridges Foundation encourages participants to be innovative, which has looked different at each tour stop. NSU has conducted class visits and tours while incorporating nontraditional approaches, including a fashion show featuring local designers and NSU alumnae. Wise is a teaching gallery, said Victoria Jensen, gallery manager and adjunct professor. The collaboration is a natural fit for NSU’s and Art Bridges’ goals and for "the Chrysler’s goal of establishing and nurturing community engagement.”
The university is also using social media to promote spots such as Jacobs’, which invite students to research one of the pieces and assign a song that connects them to the piece. There is even a record player in the exhibition. For Jacobs, that was “100% percent Nina Simone” because “it allowed me to feel what was going on in those times.” Students are creating a playlist based on polls on the NSU Fine Arts Instagram page, which is also accessible through a QR code posted in the gallery.
“One of the best parts of this project has been witnessing in real time as students realize just how many career paths are available to them in art spaces," Dowdy said.
“It has been great to see students take an interest in exhibition design or marketing or programming. It is clear that expanding access to art and careers in the arts has value that will extend beyond the life of this project.”
James Wise Gallery, NSU, E.L. Hamm Fine Arts Building, 700 Park Avenue, Norfolk. nsu.edu/fine-arts/james-wise-gallery . Public gallery hours staffed by students; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; exhibition closing public reception, 6 to 8 p.m., March 27
