Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development is hosting the Black History Month Art Exhibition through the end of February at Omega School, showcasing visual arts from a variety of artists statewide.
According to The Isthmus, participating artists include Matthew Braunginn, Sharon Bjyrd, Jerry Butler, Amira Caire, Charlotte Cummins, Jerry Jordan, Issis Macias, Alina Puente Oby, Chele Ramos, Alice Traore, Sophia Voelker, Edward Wade and Michael Ward.
Butler, who is an artist and educator, heard about the Black History Month Art Exhibition by invitation, he said. Butler is one of the participating artists and former associate dean at Madison Technical College.
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On his website, Butler describes his art as reflecting, “ … this philosophy of positive change and growth. I have a deep appreciation for family and community, which supports my art and myself personally.”
Many of Butler’s works acrylic and mixed media collages. One of Butler’s featured pieces, “Protest,” was created after the murder of George Floyd.
“These very things have been happening without attention given to them all,” Butler said. “This work is to place a marker in time and to call for the work to be done.”
“Protest” is an acrylic stained canvas collage.
The second of Butler’s works curated for the exhibition is an acrylic, paper and cloth on clay board titled “Caged.”
“[This piece was created] in response to ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou,” Butler said. “My brother Larry posed for the image that became part of my consciousness as I realized I knew a deeper meaning why the caged bird sang.” “Caged” is for sale on Butler’s website.
“These pieces are born from a tremendous friendship,” Cummins said in a statement to Founder of LOUD, Oscar Mireles. “Meri Lau and I live life with joy. This doesn’t mean it’s without drama, which sometimes involves issues of racism and exclusion. We vent, make art, and laugh. We then feel strengthened, validated and renewed.”
Similar to Cummins’ sentiment, part of the Black History Month Art Exhibition is highlighted by friendships. LOUD Founder Oscar Mireles said collaboration and partnership influenced many of the works on display.
“Some of the artists got to meet, share techniques and explain why they picked their subjects,” Mireles said, despite many of the pieces being created in isolation to be in tune with each artist’s own vision.
In addition to being the founder of LOUD, Mireles is the curator for the Black History Month Art Exhibition, a published poet, editor and the Executive Director of Omega School.
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“The main goal is to really showcase … there’s not many venues celebrating Black History Month,” Mireles said. “There’s different ways of expression and I felt that it might be a good time to hear from visual artists and their interpretation of Black History Month.”
Another goal of the exhibition is to celebrate diversity through diverse art, artists and in collaboration with other groups, Mireles said. Different artists offer different media, including one interactive poetry installment in the exhibition.
Mireles hopes people will see from the exhibit that Black History Month is something significant that we should all participate in celebrating.
Butler wants students and people to recognize the philosophy in which every day is a worthwhile one when it’s spent seeking to improve the human experience and to have fun.
“My work over the years has focused on protest,” Butler said. “I hope that students will look to the ARC-Benders of the past for inspiration and motivation for their life-journey and participation in society, helping the ‘ARC’ to bend toward justice. MLK said ‘The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’”
The Black History Month Art Exhibition is open to the public through Feb. 29.
