Tag Archives: Seattle Art Museum

Arts & Culture

SAM Exhibit Urges Reflection on Black Identity and the Self

2 Comments

by Marcus Harrison Green

(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)

Credit Amoako Boafo for achieving the impossible. He’s managed to make Blackness — and its inherent pain, joy, complexity, struggles, and triumph — inescapable in the City of Seattle. At least that was my first impression after leaving the Ghanaian painter’s solo debut exhibit, “Soul of Black Folks,” currently on display at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM).

Continue reading SAM Exhibit Urges Reflection on Black Identity and the Self →
Arts & Culture

Seeing and Being Seen in the Work of Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems

by Fiona Dang

“Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue” centers the friendship of two inimitable artists. Featuring over 100 works, the current exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum speaks to how these visual storytellers have transformed the history of photography and the photography of history. Through their investigation of beauty, power, and the human condition, Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems establish a presence and place for Black lives in the collective consciousness. 

Continue reading Seeing and Being Seen in the Work of Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems →
Community

Seventh Annual Legendary Children Celebrates QTBIPOC House and Ball Communities

2 Comments

by Patheresa Wells

Legendary Children, a multi-arts party celebrating queer and trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) communities, returns with its first in-person event in two years. Taking place at Olympic Sculpture Park from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, the event will also be available via live stream. This year is the seventh anniversary of Legendary Children, which has been held annually since 2015, including two years of virtual offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Continue reading Seventh Annual Legendary Children Celebrates QTBIPOC House and Ball Communities →
News

The Morning Update Show — 5/7/21

The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope, and whereweconverge.com.

We also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.

Morning Update Show — Friday, May 7

LIVE — Draze | LIVE — Besa Gordon | LIVE — Barbara Nielsen | A look at SAM | The Commitment | #FeelGoodFriday

Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 5/7/21 →
Arts & Culture

Sensing Out of Numbness: A Conversation With Shin Yu Pai

by Jasmine J. Mahmoud

How do we sense at this time? With the onslaught of violence against Asian American and Asian Diasporic people, the horrifyingly regular state-sanctioned murders of Black and Brown people (including CHILDREN), and general harm towards those who our society minoritizes, I’ve been feeling numb and guilty in my inability to sense, as well as to post, donate, fight, and make sense of what’s going on. How do we sense well at this time?

Continue reading Sensing Out of Numbness: A Conversation With Shin Yu Pai →
Arts & Culture

Seattle Art Museum Debuts New Jacob Lawrence Exhibit: The American Struggle

by Chamidae Ford

On March 5 the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) opened its new Jacob Lawrence exhibit, “The American Struggle,” to the public.

“The American Struggle” takes us on a journey through American history, reframing the narratives we have heard for centuries. 

During the creation of this series in 1954, Lawrence was spending countless days at what was then called the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library. He spent his time learning about not only the American history taught in schools but history told through other perspectives, which inspired this series.

Continue reading Seattle Art Museum Debuts New Jacob Lawrence Exhibit: The American Struggle →
Arts & Culture

Barbara Earl Thomas Traverses the Geography of Innocence

by Beverly Aarons

Each human being is a vast planet filled with uncharted territory. The darkness, the unseen, and the mystery of each of us can intrigue and terrify or even invoke violence, especially if we are living in bodies racialized as Black and even if we are just children. And it’s through this topography that Seattle-based artist Barbara Earl Thomas guides us in “The Geography of Innocence,” (Seattle Art Museum — November 14, 2020–June 13, 2021). The Geography of Innocence is a room-scale exhibit that explores “the colors we’ve assigned to sin … and our preconceived notions of innocence and guilt, assigned in shades of light and dark.” The exhibit will feature cut paper portraits of Black children, capturing their tenderness and vulnerability. 

“So when people step into the room, they’ll just be in the Barbara environment,” Thomas said during our telephone interview. “… You are going to be relocated in the geography of my idea.” 

Continue reading Barbara Earl Thomas Traverses the Geography of Innocence →