Artist recreates snapshots of 1950s resort with colorful quilts, paintings at WAM

Through stitches and strokes, artist Stephen Towns depicts individuals at play — engaging activities like swimming and dancing — at a central Florida resort where Black people could vacation during a time of strict segregation.

Towns’s 11 vibrant, handcrafted quilts and six paintings depicting Paradise Park are the focus of a new exhibition, “Safer Waters: Picturing Black Recreation in Midcentury,” on view now through June 14 at the Wichita Art Museum. Seven of the quilts were created specifically for the exhibition, which is included in the museum’s free admission.

Despite pervasive racism and Jim Crow-era segregation denying them access to a nearby whites-only resort in Ocala, Florida, the vacationers in Towns’ works find revelry and relaxation in Paradise Park, which operated from 1949 through 1969.

“It’s emblematic of people who could find joy, community and belonging despite things that were against them,” said WAM curator Tera Hedrick during a recent tour of the exhibition. “There were big and small moments” celebrated at Paradise Park, she said.

Hedrick and other WAM staff, who organized the exhibit with Towns, have ensured that sense of joy and community is evident throughout the exhibition.

The walls of the ground-level Ross Ritchie Gallery in WAM have been painted a relaxing cool blue to set the tone for displaying Towns’ resort-related artistic works.

Historic black-and-white images that inspired Towns’ works are also displayed throughout the exhibition. The photos were taken by Bruce Mozert, a pioneer in underwater photography, and depict popular activities such as the resort’s glass-bottomed boats, its annual Labor Day beauty pageant and the alligators in its reptile exhibit.

In contrast to the black-and-white photos, Towns’ works are colorful, vibrant snapshots of the resort’s visitors. He’s captured activities like bathing-suit clad women flipping through magazines while on the beach, underwater swimmers, couples dancing and newlyweds posing by a late-model car. The subjects are depicted as faceless silhouettes outlined with contrasting stitches. Towns uses patterned fabrics and reflective and 3D materials such as acrylic and glass beads and shells to create the quilts.

Tracks of period Motown music, curated by Towns, play in the background while visitors take in Towns’ works and additional displays of leisure and Black history.

The additional items “help bring the show to life,” Hedrick said, as they provide context about the resort, the time period and even local history.

For example, Paradise Park postcards and brochures from Florida state archives and collectors are displayed in a clear case. In another case, a copy of the Green Book is on view. The Green Book was a travel guide that helped Black travelers find gas stations, hotels, restaurants and other places where they would be welcomed during segregation.

WAM collaborated with the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum and The Kansas African American Museum to provide local connections to Towns’ art. The historical museum loaned period leisure clothing, including a gold lame bathing suit, 1950s rompers, a men’s cabana shorts set and a suit — and a bowler hat.

TKAAM provided black-and-white period photographs of Wichita’s Black community, taken by L.K. Hughes “that have a lot of similarity” to the ones Mozert took, Hedrick pointed out. It also provided leisure-related artifacts: a bowling ball, a worn leather glove and even basketball superstar Lynette Woodard’s No. 50 jersey from her Wichita North High School playing days.

Before helping put together the “Safer Waters” exhibition, Towns was already familiar with WAM and TKAAM, since he had visited both after WAM acquired his quilt titled “Chain Gang” in 2024. During his WAM visit, Towns talked about some of his finished Paradise Park pieces.

Based on visitor reaction to “Chain Gang” — “everyone fell in love with the work and the power of the work,” Hedrick said — the museum started talking with Towns about organizing an exhibition of his work.

Towns, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from the University of South Carolina and developed a self-taught practice in quilting, had his first museum exhibition in 2018.

Since then, he’s completed several artist-in-residence programs. His works are part of collections at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, and other museums.

Local filmmaker Maliq Little has produced a documentary about the exhibition and Paradise Park, featuring interviews with Towns as well as audio interviews of park employees and visitors conducted by Lu Vickers, who co-authored a book about the resort. The film can be viewed at WAM in a special area with seating that includes canvas sling beach chairs. It will also be available on WAM’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/wichitaartmuseum).

Additional free programming related to the exhibit includes:

• An artist talk by Towns along with Vickers for a WAM Nights event at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16.
• A Family ArtVenture program called “A Sewful Celebration with Stephen Towns” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17. Along with Towns doing story time appearances at noon and 1 p.m., other activities include learning to sew, creating wearable art and time-traveling to the 1950s with swing music and dance.
• A guided tour and hand-quilting activities during WAM Nights: Stitch Circle and See “Safer Waters” event from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30. The tour is from 6 to 6:30 p.m. For the stitch circle, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., participants can bring personal hand-sewing works in progress or learn alongside makers with provided supplies.
• A panel discussion with residents, leaders, creatives and others during WAM Nights: Building Wichita: A community Conversation, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.

‘Safer Waters: Picturing Black Recreation in Midcentury’ exhibition

What: an exhibition featuring quilts and paintings by Baltimore-based artist Stephen Towns that center on images of Paradise Park, a central Florida lakeside resort where Black people could vacation during a time of Jim Crow segregation

Where: Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.

When: through Sunday, June 14. WAM hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Fridays. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and federal holidays.

Admission: Free

More info: 316-261-4921, wam.org