MOA features Embracing Diverse Voices exhibit

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Ernest Withers, Lionel Hampton, The Hippodrome, ca. 1955, gelatin silver print. Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Permanent Collection Fund Purchase. (Embracing Diverse Voices is organized by the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan) 

The Museum of Art at BYU will be hosting the first Art After Dark of the Winter 2017 semester to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition “Embracing Diverse Voices: A Century of African-American Art” on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.

Museum educator of this exhibition Lynda Palma said this exhibition is a way for people to engage in discussion.

“It is unprecedented and it is something that we have never done before,” Palma said. “African-American artists are not well represented in our collection nor have we ever had an exhibition of their works and only their works.”

The exhibition will be open through April 29.

“It is a marvelous opportunity to bring the dialogue to the forefront of racial tensions that are so timely,” Palma said. “Despite the fact, the main thrust of the civil rights movement happened in the 50s and the 60s; it is still an American issue that still needs to be discussed and it is a conversation that still needs to happen.”

Palma said the exhibition is for many audiences, but the museum especially wants BYU students to interact with the artworks and technology in the exhibition to learn more about history.

Karsten Creightney, February Flower (Self-Portrait), 2009, lithograph. Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Permanent Collection Fund Purchase. (Embracing Diverse Voices is organized by the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan)

“It is important for students to know how we have gotten from where we were and where we are now and what still needs to continue to happen,” Palma said.

Marketing and PR manager for the MOA Kylie Brooks said the exhibition is well-timed for the month of February.

“This exhibition was available for us to have here at our museum starting in February, which we thought was very appropriate for Black History Month,” Brooks said.

The Art After Dark event will be the first time the public will be able to experience this exhibition.

“We hope that these events will bring people into the museum that normally might not come to the museum,” Brooks said. “We hope that people will come have discussions and feel comfortable in the galleries and interact with artwork in a fun environment.”

This event is free and there will be refreshments. The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir will be performing at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Maren Hatch, a sophomore studying wild life conservation, works at the front desk and is an educational assistant at the MOA.

“When we first put up the poster announcing it here at the front desk, I had a lot of people be really excited about the exhibition and ask questions,” Hatch said.

Students can attend this event and be part of the conversation discussing freedom, race, and the civil rights movement. Palma said this event is a great way to remember the civil rights movement and how it has made America great.

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