Gifts of Our Ancestors: Resilience in the Diaspora, an exhibition organized by the New Mexico African American Resilience Committee, will be featured from February 3 through March 14 in the Placitas Community Library’s Gracie Lee Community Room and Gallery. The Committee, under the leadership of co-founders Dr. Doris Fields and Karen Jones Meadows, invited artists to submit work that reflects the role ancestors play in their creativity, defiance, power, resilience, and success. “This exhibit represents the breadth of our diversity and connectedness no matter how many generations from home we are,” says Fields.
The theme is inspired by author and philosopher, James Baldwin, who writes that “the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways…it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.”
“Art is our gift from our ancestors,” adds Fields. “The community at large will be introduced to African queens and philosophers, intercultural connectivity, and human interdependence that has proven critical to the evolution of all homo sapiens.” More than a dozen artists will be participating in the exhibit, representing African descended people from many parts of the world.
A public reception featuring Maurice Burns of Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe and other renowned artists, including Zero Bey, Willa Siao-Pao, Karen Jones Meadows, and Raul Davis, is planned for Friday, February 16, 2024, from 5-7 p.m. Soul food and traditional African music will enliven the evening. The committee invites everyone to share this celebration of art from the African Diaspora by visiting the gallery during the course of the exhibit and for the reception. As always, a percentage of art sales will benefit the library.