Virtual Program Series “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” July 10, 2020
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary (Angela Davis), 1971, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carli H. de Silver Fund. © Wadsworth Jarrell
This summer, the MFAH presents a lineup of timely virtual programs focusing on themes, ideas, and experiences represented in Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. The exhibition explores what it meant to be a Black American artist from the emergence of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s to the advent of identity politics in the early 1980s.
Watershed Moment
“The different positions adopted by artists in Soul of a Nation feel especially relevant right now,” said Kanitra Fletcher, assistant curator of modern and contemporary art, in the overview presentation that kicked off the series of virtual programs. “We’re going through a watershed moment, and it’s not unlike summers from about 50 years ago. The art on view shows us how artists have responded to the troubled social and political landscape in the United States and offers viewers ways to meditate on, and make sense of, the current conditions we are living in right now.”
The schedule of dynamic virtual programming continues with artists, curators, and community leaders coming together via teleconference to discuss the varied stylistic approaches and debates evoked by the works in Soul of a Nation.
Live Panel Discussions
Tune in on Saturday, July 18, at 3 p.m. for “Black Art & Activism,” the first of several livestreamed panel discussions. Soul of a Nation artists Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, and Gerald Williams talk with moderator Rebecca Zorach of Northwestern University.
Later in July and August, see more of the show’s featured artists discuss Black art in the contexts of politics, photography, abstraction, the Houston art scene, and local cultural organizations.
Experience the landmark exhibition, on view through August 30, and sit in on a summer’s worth of rich discussion. Find updates and more details about the programs here.
► See Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power in the Beck Building.
