Valerie Maynard At Morgan State University

The Visual Arts Program at Morgan State University cordially invites you
to come meet & greet world renowned artist

Valerie Maynard
AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Lecture/Workshop in the
Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center
Room 319 (Students Only)

6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Meet & Greet in the
James E. Lewis Museum of Art
(Open to the Public)





All content © 2007 Black Artists of DC all rights reserved.
For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org

Suspicious Activities

Paintings and Works on Paper
by Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter
curated by Michael Platt

October 17, - November 16, 2008
Opening Reception: October 17, 7-9 pm

Suspicious Activities: Depicting parallels between the real,national and international use of militarized language and the contradictions in our country's foreign and domestic conduct.

DC Arts Center
2438 18th St.. NW
Washington, DC 20009 202.462.78331 info@dcartscenler.org


All content © 2007 Black Artists of DC all rights reserved.
For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org

Artist and Curator Daniel Brooking, Shares Thoughts on Playing with Light Exhibit

The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum and Black Artists of DC (BADC) presents Playing with Light: Making Visions Visible.

In 2007 I curated the BADC exhibition Digital Divide at the Ratner Museum. Of all the exhibitors that year only two were asked to return; we were one of the two. For 2008, I chose the title Playing With Light because of my fascination with light and color. I asked the artists to explore the visual and philosophical aspects of light: illumination, darkness, shadow, truth, fears and dreams and to go wherever their imagination would lead. The art ranges from exquisite tapestries to masterful pen and ink, imaginative photography, colorful abstracts, thought provoking digital works and mixed media: combining classical and new art forms. The works are bold, exciting, calming, beautiful and intriguing. The artists in the exhibition are James Brown, Jr., Al Burts, Maurice Harrington, Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Gloria C. Kirk, Harlee Little, Percy Martin, Yvette Mitchell, Michael B. Platt, Eugene R.Vango and myself.

The opening reception on the 5^th , was attended by members of BADC and a very interested public. We received many favorable comments about the show. We took every opportunity to explain who we were and to ask for feedback. Artists must be able and willing to talk about their work as well as exhibit it. Stella Bernstein, the Administrative Director of the Museum, also introduced the exhibit to the audience and gave a brief history of the Museum.

BADC supports and enlivens the arts in DC and compliments the diversity of a cosmopolitan nation’s capital. Our accomplishments enhance the reputation of Black artists and Washington, DC as a nurturing environment.

For further information please call Daniel T. Brooking at (202) 255-5720 or email dtbrooking@verizon.net.

The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum

10001 Old Georgetown Road, near the corner of Lone Oak Drive (East) Bethesda, MD 20814

October 5-October 28, 2008

Monday thru Thursday 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Sunday 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. – closed Friday and Saturday

All content © 2007 Black Artists of DC all rights reserved.
For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org

PLAYING WITH LIGHT: Making Visions Visible

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Daniel T. Brooking
(202) 255-5720

Washington, DC - September 1, 2008

WHO: THE DENNIS AND PHILLIP RATNER MUSEUM and BLACK ARTISTS OF DC present

WHAT: PLAYING WITH LIGHT: Making Visions Visible

WHEN: October 5-October 28, 2008
Monday thru Thursday 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Sunday 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

WHERE: The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum
10001 Old Georgetown Road, near the corner of Lone Oak Drive (East)
Bethesda, MD 20814

The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum and Black Artists of DC (BADC) present Playing with Light: Making Visions Visible.

BADC artists explore the visual and philosophical aspects of light: illumination, shadow, truth, fears, and dreams, using digital art, embroidered tapestries, enhanced photography, pen and ink, acrylic paints, and mixed media. The artists in the exhibition are Daniel T. Brooking, James Brown, Jr., Al Burts, Maurice Harrington, Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Gloria C. Kirk, Harlee Little, Percy Martin, Yvette Mitchell, Michael B. Platt, and Eugene R.Vango.

The members of BADC support and enliven the arts in DC. They have exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum, local and national art galleries, and internationally in Nigeria, Ghana, France, and the Netherlands. Their members compliment the diversity of a cosmopolitan nation’s capitol.

In 2006, the works of 24 BADC members were selected and exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach. The New York Times has called Art Basel Miami Beach “arguably the hottest trade fair in the hemisphere”. The members have expanded beyond traditional art exhibitions to on-line galleries, making art available to a worldwide audience. BADC artists have also been asked to exhibit in Art Basel Miami Beach 2008. All of BADC’s accomplishments enhance the reputation of Washington, DC as a nurturing environment for artists.

For further information please call Daniel T. Brooking at (202) 255-5720 or email dtbrooking@verizon.net.
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For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org

BADC 8/24/2008 Business Meeting

Left to Right Akili Ron Anderson, T.H. Gomillion, Alec Simpson, Cynthia Sands and Preilli Williams.








All content © 2007 Black Artists of DC all rights reserved.
For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org

Remembering Not To Forget, BADC Exhibit Statement

Duke Ellington School of the Arts September 11, 2008

We are a people who are always asked to forget. We are asked to forget our homeland, our genius, our languages, our natural beauty; the brutality of our disbursement and the various ways that it's ugliness has morphed. On this day 9-11 we can remember the cooks, janitors, doormen, the people who provided "services" for those who operate in the world of business. Remember: Remembering not to Forget is a profound title for an exhibition in a school populated by dark people in a place that salutes the gifted musician, Duke Ellington. This is also a place that held Black children orphaned by the Civil War. I am sure this building creeks and moans with it's own memories.

Remembering is and important activity for artists and for Black artists it is an act of both survival and revolt.

To refuse to forget is a powerful thing and these artists are powerful. In these works you can hear the rhythms of Ashanti, Yorba, and Congolese the whispers of Nedu Neter and Twi. You will see memories from all the continents that we have traveled to both willingly and unwillingly… our people have navigated the seas for millennia. Memories of cold places, Jim Crow, and civil rights movements and when the levees broke (I refuse to blame that on Katrina…. I remember). These works are bursting with memories for a people who stand again, and again, and again.

Young people we need you to remember. We need you to adopt our memories, to take them gently, and acknowledge their preciousness. They can give roots to your own and act as an anchor as you move through future whirlwinds. We have expressed our memories. You have cataloged, arranged and labeled them. Your work offers, documentation, classification and validation. You are presenting our memories to the public to share and share, and share. We thank you.



Claudia "Aziza" Gibson-Hunter
BADC Facilitator/ Co- Founder

All content © 2007 Black Artists of DC all rights reserved.
For permission to reproduce contact: editor@blackartistsofdc.org