Exhibitions showcase works by artists reflecting lives of Black Americans

Iconic Gordan Parks photographs that capture the reality of segregation. A red, white and blue abstract painting that depicts a nighttime gathering of Klansmen. A painting of African American folk hero John Henry.

Those pieces and more are being displayed in four related exhibitions at three Wichita museums. The exhibitions feature works by African American artists that reflect the lives and experiences of Blacks in America.

“African American Art in the 20th Century” is a collaboration of the Wichita Art Museum, The Kansas African American Museum and the Ulrich Museum at Wichita State University.

WAM opened its exhibition this weekend to kick off Black History Month, while the other two museums opened their related exhibitions in January. Over the next few months, each museum is also hosting a range of free, virtual, related programming on topics ranging from artist discussions to a race-and-parenting forum.

WAM’s exhibition features nearly 50 paintings and sculptures by 34 artists drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Ulrich Museum is showcasing 40 of the more than 170 Parks photographs in its collection and is premiering an exhibit of a 2012 Renee Stout portfolio about Black diasporas and hoodoo and voodoo religions. TKAAM’s exhibition is also culled from its permanent collection.

“It’s every different kind of style and every different subject you can imagine across the decades,” said Patricia McDonnell, WAM’s director who helped coordinate the collaboration among the three museums. “Think about the length and experiences of the 20th century. … Art reflects life and you’ll see the life experiences of African Americans across those decades. You’ll see joy and celebration and beauty, and you’ll also see hardship and adversity and racism.”

A timely effort

Last year’s killings of Black Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter protests drew attention to racism and social justice in America. African American artists have been incorporating those themes in their works for some time. It’s just coincidence that the new exhibitions at the three museums come on the heels of that nationwide attention, according to officials with the museums.

“We booked the (Smithsonian American Art Museum) African American art exhibition years ago,” McDonnell said. “With the social and racial unrest of 2020 and recent events, the celebration of African American art as well as culture and history (are) particularly timely. A focus on diversity and inclusion is always important and a large priority for WAM and that impulse motivated the museum to secure this exhibition for Wichita years ago.”

WAM and the Ulrich Museum started collaborating on exhibitions when McDonnell came to Wichita in 2007 hired to head the Ulrich. She became WAM’s director in 2012. Along the way, TKAAM became part of the collaboration, particularly during exhibitions related to Parks, the Kansas native who became a well-known photographer, writer and filmmaker. According to McDonnell, the citywide collaboration “has taken place at least three times so far.”

Visitors to this current collaboration will find some connections across the exhibitions. A sculpture by Stout, the focus of one of the Ulrich exhibitions, is included in the WAM exhibition. Works by painter Jacob Lawrence are included in both the WAM and TKAAM exhibitions.

Family life is another thread.

The Parks’ exhibition includes photos of at least three families the LIFE magazine writer and photographer captured during his career: the family of cleaning woman Ella Watson who posed for Park’s well-known “American Gothic,” the Brazilian family of Flavio da Silva, who was part of Parks’ series on a Rio de Janeiro slum, and the Thornton family who brought attention to life in 1950s segregated Alabama.

Copies of the LIFE magazine issues that included Parks’ works are also on display at the Ulrich. Many of the Alabama photographs didn’t appear in LIFE, and six of the photos from that time are being displayed for the first time at the Ulrich, according to curator Ksenya Gurshtein.

In the WAM exhibit, a 1930 Palmer Hayden painting shows a man painting as his family sits nearby in a cramped apartment.

The TKAAM works help depict the migration of African Americans from the rural South to more urban areas and how that impacted families.

Wide-ranging public programming

Each of the participating museums is also offering related programming. Some of the virtual events include the usual artist and curator talks, but others bring attention to new artists and other topics.

The Ulrich’s programming, for example, includes an event featuring Parks-inspired photographer Doug Barrett from Manhattan, Kansas, who captures modern-day images of similar themes found in Parks’ photographs.

One of the topics that emerged from last year’s racial unrest was how parents can talk to kids about race and identity. That’s why Jana Erwin, the Ulrich’s head of education, added a community forum about the issue to the Ulrich’s list of events. Community educator Marquetta Adkins will lead the Feb. 20 panel discussion with women of different backgrounds and ethnicities.

Angela Bates, the executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, will give another family-related talk for the Ulrich. Her Feb. 17 presentation will look at the experiences of the mothers and children who settled in Nicodemus, the only remaining western town established by African Americans during a post-Civil War exodus from the South.

The one-hour music video, “The Breathe Project” created by Kevin Harrison, will be featured in a Feb. 23 WAM program. Harrison, who works in WSU’s Office of Community Engagement, was inspired to create the video after Floyd’s death. Another WAM event on March 11 covers how jazz was part of the Harlem Renaissance.

TKAAM is planning to unveil a historical marker commemorating Oscar-winning Hattie McDaniel’s birthplace at 925 N. Water, near the museum. The date is still being determined, according to TKAAM officials. In 1939, McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar for her role in “Gone with the Wind.”

All related programming events are free, and nearly all require prior registration. For more information about the events, check each museum’s website.

Parents and teachers can also access free lesson plans related to the Ulrich’s Parks exhibition on the Ulrich’s website.

African American Art in the 20th Century

What: A collaboration of three Wichita art museums to display African American art. Participating venues are also hosting a range of free, virtual, programming on topics ranging from artist discussions to a race-and-parenting forum.

Museum information:

▪ Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.: “African American Art in the 20th Century: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond” exhibit from the Smithsonian, now through May 23.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $10 adults, $5 for ages 60 and up, $3 college students with ID and youth ages 5-17, free for children younger than 5 and WAM members. Admission on Saturdays is always free, and throughout February Sunday admission is also free. More info: 316-268-4921 or wichitaartmuseum.org

▪ Ulrich Museum of Art, 1845 N. Fairmount: “Gordon Parks: I, Too, am America” and “Renee Stout: Ghosts,” now through May 8.

Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Free admission. More info: 316-978-3664 or ulrich.wichita.edu

▪ The Kansas African American Art Museum, 601 N. Water St.: “Through Our Eyes: Perspectives of African-American Life in the 20th Century” now through April 24.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, noon-4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission: $6 adults, $5 for ages 55 and up, $4 youth grades 6-12, $3 youth grades K-5. More info: 316-262-7651 or tkaamuseum.org