Artwork by Student Advisory Council members and I Am Academy Students – exhibit at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts
Exhibit details:
- September 14, 2022 – January 23, 2023
- Saugatuck Center for the Arts
- 400 Culver St, Saugatuck, MI 49453
Throughout last year, I AM Academy explored the theme of “Ubuntu” which, loosely translated, means: “I am because we are.”
CultureWorks’ Student Advisory Council and students at I AM Academy have had the privilege of creatively exploring Ubuntu together in terms of the visual arts through the process of printmaking. Middle and high school students highlighted historical and contemporary Black heroes in a series of multimedia monoprints, while reflecting on the lives and legacies of these trailblazers: how Maya Angelou paved the way forAmanda Gorman; how Michael Jordan paved it for Kobe who paved it for LeBron; how Colin Powell paved it in the political arena for leaders like Stacy Abrams and Barack Obama.
Celebrated Artist and Printmaker Delita Martin advocates for social justice through her largescale portraits that incorporate elements of screenprinting, relief printing, drawing, and hand-stitched collage. Her work served as inspiration for the ways that students engaged this artform, which happened over the course of several months at CultureWorks’ printmaking studio using combinations of screenprinting, relief printing, drawing, collaging, and hand stitching.
In the spirit of the aforementioned Delita Martin quote, engaging the creative act seemed like a natural way to consider the theme of Ubuntu. That theme rings true in this exhibit, for it’s a stunning visual collective of student’s experiences- both in preceding legacies and present realities- in which we remember the heart of Ubuntu: “I am because we are.”
