Crafting Blackness

Two Exhibitions Come to Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, TN (March 14, 2024) - Tennessee Craft is excited to announce the statewide expansion of the Crafting Blackness initiative by bringing two new exhibitions to middle Tennessee. Initiated by Tennessee Craft and led by Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, gallery director and curator for East Tennessee State University’s Slocumb and Tipton Galleries, Crafting Blackness explores the 100-year history of black craft artists in Tennessee from 1920-2022. Aiming to reclaim the absences and omissions in history and redirect the conversation toward more inclusive, equitable and post-colonial history narratives, Crafting Blackness provide platforms for visibility, advocating for Black voices to be in the forefront of narrating their histories though visual means to realign the master narratives.

Black Bodies Making Form

100 Years of Tennessee African American Artists

Todd Art Gallery | Middle Tennessee State University

March 1 - March 23, 2024

Co-curated with Karen LeBlanc Sullivan, Board Director of UMOJA Unity Fest and Karlota Contreras-Koterbay­, Black Bodies Making Form: 100 Years of Tennessee African American Artists,   features influential and contemporary Black Craft artists from across Tennessee including historical figures like William Edmondson, Bessie Harvey, Greg Ridley, Fritz Massaquoi, and Sammie Nicely; Governor's art awardees Hattie Marshall-Duncan and Bill Capshaw are also included in the stellar line up of this unprecedented project. Sullivan describes the project as “works memorializing history, celebrating protest, venerating faith, and honoring family. We came across works that encompassed, celebrated, elevated, and revealed Black Life through craft.” The exhibition will be on view from March 1- March 23, 2024 at the Todd Art Gallery at Middle Tennessee State University, with a public reception on March 19, 2024 from 5pm- 7pm CT during the Tennessee Association of Museums (TAM) conference.

Artist list

Akintayo Akintobi, Ludie Amos, Lynn Bachman, Jane Buis, Bill Capshaw, Tina Curry, Kimberly Dummons, Samuel Dunson, William Edmondson+, Arthur Eubanks+, Pam Faw, Jason Flack, Forms Meet Function Collective, Lurlynn Franklin, Cynthia Gadsden, Dexter Greenlee, Bessie Harvey+, Willard Hill, Barbara and Leroy Hodges, William 'Bill' Johnson+, Doniqua Joyner, Elise Kendrick, Rahn Marion, Jerry Marchen, LueElla Marshall, Hattie Marshall-Duncan, Wokie Masaquoi-Wicks & Tobertha Jackson, Michael McBride, Aundra McCoy, C.E. McGruger+, James McKissic, Janaya Meredith, Elisheba Mrozik, Jimmy Mumford, Althea Murphy-Price, Donna Olujani, Jernicya Onyekwelu, Xavier Payne, Shai Perry, Greg Ridley+, Jackie Schlicher, Dawn Smith, Roger Smith, Viola Spells, Magdalena Story & kins, Andrew Travis, Shamek Weddle, Gary White, Carlton Wilkinson, Nija Woods

Inside Blackness

Illuminating the Black Psyche in the Interior Landscape

Hiram Van Gordon Gallery | Tennessee State University

February 26 - March 28, 2024

Co-curated with Cynthia Gadsden, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Art and Design, Tennessee State University and Karlota Contreras-Koterbay­, Inside Blackness: Illuminating the Black Psyche in the Interior Landscape offers a nod to the essence and existence of black interiority. The exhibition aims to make space for diverse conversation about, around, and through blackness from an inside perspective. In addition, the hope is to present a multifaceted dialogue about the diversity, richness, and abundance of the black interior space. Inside Blackness strives to provide unique insight into the African American experience through the interior experiential lens. The exhibition will be on view from February 26 - March 28, 2024 at the Hiram Van Gordon Gallery at Tennessee State University, with a public reception on March 20, 2024 from 5pm- 7pm CT.

­Artist list

Omari Booker, Sean Clark, Tina Curry, Kimberly Dummons, Samuel Dunson, Kelsie Dulaney-Hayworth, Alicia Henry, Barbara & Leroy Hodges, Elise Kendrick, Desmond Lewis, Michael McBride, Aundra McCoy, Carl Moore, Lakesha Moore Calvin, Charlie Newton, David Quarles, Jessica Scott Felder, Gary L. White, Carlton Wilkinson, Nija Woods, Kevin Wurm, and poet Nikki Giovanni.

Crafting Blackness Initiative is funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission, South Arts, East Tennessee Foundation's Art Fund, Bravissima! Women Sponsoring the Arts, East Tennessee State University and various partners.