In her research of Queen Nanny, four words stood out: ohemmaa (means queen mother in Kromanti (the language of the Jamaican and Surinamese Maroons heavily influenced by Twi (the language of Ghana)), xaymaca (means land of wood and water in Arawakan (the language of the indigenous people of South America and the Caribbean)), abeng (means horn in Kromanti), and gumbay (means drum in Kromanti). Nanny was an obeah woman (a woman who practices traditional African religions) who is portrayed historically as having used her powerful science to protect her people.
Tosten’s thoughts and emotions connected with the sounds made by the abeng and the gumbay, her continued study of Queen Nanny, and exploration of her mother’s homeland of Jamaica inform the composition of the work in this show. The video included in the exhibition (with music by Dashon Moore and edited by Ciara Elle Bryant) features sounds by the abeng and gumbay and distorted footage from Moore Town (formally Nanny Town) that she filmed during a trip to Jamaica at the end of May in 2022.
She Blinded Them With Science is her sixth solo exhibition. Tosten often utilize letterforms, paper, and sewing to recontextualize and conceptualize her Catholic upbringing, background, and where she fits in how history has unfolded.
I want to be active and present, a part of my community from my perspective as a Black woman. I am often engaged in an open exploration of social constructs, how they affect me, and how I can shift and change them. As a maker, I’m very into technique and love to indulge in perfection. Even as I work towards that perfection in a very technical way, the materials are going to do what they are going to do. Visual conversations between me, community, gender, race and the material form the identity of my work.
Andrea Tosten
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“Black Legend Heirloom is the first whole whisper of skill I have been able to express as a visual creator. I am making solid my voice. I put painting, collage, design, Decoupage and paper mache to use in a way that captures memory in alter form to house memory, legacy, heritage, and inheritance.”
Camika Spencer
About the artist: Camika Spencer M.A., M.F.A is an Oak Cliff native of Dallas, Texas. She is a best-selling author, award-winning playwright, and educator. In 2019 she was announced as a Lee Daniels/Represent OMV creatives winner, and she is currently scripting a one-woman show titled, One Year in Egypt. The Black Legend Heirloom Project is a first for Ms. Spencer and she hopes to continue evolving the art as a teaching practice beyond the borders of Dallas, Texas.
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About the artist: Inyang Essien is a Nigerian-American photographer and visual artist from Dallas, TX. Her work is based in photography, cultural textiles, video installations, and generative art to explore identity through culture, sexuality, and personal transformation. In 2021, she was a recipient in the inaugural cohort of the Juanita J. Craft Artist Residency and was a recipient of both the Nasher Artist Grant and Cedars Union Art & Equity Scholarship.
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All forms of jungle life can be seen through the eyes of designers Taylor Sharper, J Romero, and Monsieur Alexander. Within the South Dallas Cultural Center’s Arthello Beck Gallery will live the Jungle Oasis. Guests will be immersed Into the Jungle as they journey through the exhibit. With inspiration taken from every form of life, the exhibition includes 20 original haute couture garments, as well as photographs, sketches, and accessories.
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The project documents the neighborhood of South Dallas and several of its residents, business owners, and community leaders. South Dallas is a community rich with culture and history, but it is quickly changing. The goal of this project was to preserve a period in time that tells us where the neighborhood is before it changes. Over a three-month period, from September to December 2020, Nitashia has endeavored to connect with the people of the community and use her talents as a multimedia artist/designer to capture the landscape.
“The process of capturing the beauty that is an individual’s spirit has always been very intriguing to me. The art of storytelling has always influenced my multimedia artwork, and for that I’m grateful. My eagerness and love for the world and others have pushed me to produce a body of work highlighting environmental spaces, communities, and individual muses. When I started working on the project that I’ve titled The Beauty of South Dallas, Capturing the Now Before the Future, I was excited yet nervous about where to begin. South Dallas is a large area, and I wanted to make sure to capture the essence of the land. I was incredibly thrilled about being given the opportunity to create under the Juanita Craft House Artist Residency, which is supported by the South Dallas Cultural Center. Learning about Juanita Craft’s life and history was truly extraordinary. I was thrilled by her mission to help heal others and her political activism during the Civil Rights Movement. Both the people and the land of South Dallas are beautiful. Many of the older buildings represent the struggles some people have faced growing up here, and, to me, that defines strength. Many areas within South Dallas are being developed, and I fear gentrification. My goal was to capture the current South Dallas before the future arrives because the people and places of today’s South Dallas are quite beautiful and unique indeed.” – Nitahshia Johnshon
Nitashia is also the creator of The Self Publication, a photographic series created to uplift the black community while dismantling harsh stereotypes associated with the culture, and The Smart Project, a creative after-school program for artistic teens. To add to her list, Johnson is an independent graphic designer, photographer, and video artist who loves to collaborate with others. Her unwavering passion for design and photography is remarkable.
(Photography by Victor and the South Dallas Cultural Center staff)
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In Paying Reverence to the Altar of Memories, Everett is honoring the memories that have been difficult and traumatic to confront and honoring those that keep hope as a constant. It was important to use self portraits taken at different stages in her life and combine the line work and color saturation that runs through her previous work. The work is shown in different memory chambers with no real timeline order, some are separate recollections. This is how the memories present themselves in her mind. Everett is investigating how she process these memories. Does the process of continued recollection remove a strain of truth with each recall? What will she find when she gives space to a memory purposely forgotten? She is also releasing the power some of the memories hold, not to cast them into darkness again, but for acceptance. If needed, forgiving the events that created them. This series is a living portfolio, new pieces are added when the memory deserves attention. She is beginning this journey of processing to offer them and herself Grace.
Her additional gallery, Seeing Ghosts: Revisited, is a blend Everett’s offering of protection to the Black community from the Bartlett Project and to highlight their history.
It is believed that the use of Haint Blue and any type of written word, can be used to ward off evil spirits. Haint Blue is prevalent in New Orleans. It is used on the roofs of porches and front doors. Haint Blue confuses the spirits, making them believe they are near water or the sky. The newspaper forces the evil spirits to read all words before they can do harm. There are stories of people using newspapers as insulation or simply pasted to the walls. Everett saw this a lot growing up and never really understood their purpose. When she was asked to join the Bartlett Project, the word “Ghost Town” was used often. It confused her as she saw a small town that had its own life. Everett researched extensively and only found minor nods historically to the Black community. This struck a chord with her and tied back into her not knowing why we performed certain rituals, cooked certain foods, or much of her cultural history in New Orleans. Black history is mostly an oral tradition. When we leave we take our stories and histories with us. The other sad truth to this is we are mostly erased and forgotten by the majority. The original form of this piece was destroyed due to the carelessness of those entrusted to protect the work. The smaller collage works are still mighty in their protection. They made it through the destruction and still highlight the beauty and perseverance that defines the Black community in Bartlett, Texas. This portfolio is also living as she is currently working with the community to include new families in this collection.
Delicious mac & cheese bites, cookies, and brownies were provided by The Butter Fairy.
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