Percy Ricks, Image Credit: Aesthetic Dynamics, Inc.
This program is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The 1968: Recall & Respond Colloquium is part of the citywide Wilmington 1968 initiative.
Keynote Speaker:
Colette Gaiter
Colette Gaiter has a keen interest in socially engaged art and has initiated two community projects in Wilmington, DE: Urban Garden Cinema and The Beauty Shop Project. Her writing on the work of former Black Panther artist Emory Douglas appears in Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, and West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-1977. She continues to write about Douglas’ work including his current international human rights activism. Gaiter is on the faculty at the University of Delaware’s College of Arts and Sciences.
1968: Recall and Respond Colloquium
Sunday, April 22, 2018
2 - 5 PM: FREE colloquium open to the public.
5 - 6 PM: Seated dinner with the panelists. Dinner ticket and registration required.
Join us for an afternoon addressing multi-generational perspectives on how the arts bring people together to resolve the misunderstandings that divide society. The 1968: Recall & Respond Colloquium is part of the citywide Wilmington 1968 initiative and features local panelists celebrating the major artistic and educational contributions of Percy Ricks, a pioneer art advocate and educator in Delaware. Recognizing a deficit in the representation of black artists, Percy Ricks founded the arts advocacy organization Aesthetic Dynamics, Inc. The panel will highlight diversity as an asset that provides inspiration for new cultural policies, preserves human dignity in times of unrest, and opens up the possibilities for tolerance, understanding, healing, and transformation.
Event Highlights:
Meet and hear from African American leaders in the community, as well as scholars and artists. Colette Gaiter will provide the keynote address. Panelists include: Raye Jones Avery, Jamie Loper, Terrance Vann, with Dr. Julie McGee serving as moderator.
Silent auction of a painting by Wilmington artist Terrance Vann, a recent DDOA Individual Artist Fellowship recipient. All proceeds will support our arts education programming for underrepresented individuals and communities.
Guided tour of the correlating exhibition, Guardians of the Image Makers in the Hennessy Project Space gallery.
Enjoy an optional seated dinner with the panelists in the Hennessy Project Space gallery catered by Outlandish. Dinner ticket and registration required. Space is limited.
1968: Recall & Respond is part of the community-wide reflection by over 19 local organizations 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination known as the Wilmington 1968 Project.
This colloquium will be available to the public through video live stream and viewable from any personal computer/device or through free internet access at your local public library. Live stream link: https://youtu.be/UE2EU_uOwaA
Schedule:
2:00: Silent auction begins
2:00 - 2:10: Welcome remarks and introductions
2:10 - 2:45: Colette Gaiter, keynote speaker
2:45 – 3:00: Raye Jones Avery, presenter
3:00 - 3:15: Terrance Vann, presenter
3:15 - 3:30: Jamie Loper, presenter
3:30 – 4:00: Break and tour of exhibition, Guardians of the Image Makers
4:00 - 4:30: Town hall roundtable led by moderator Dr. Julie McGee
4:30 - 5:00: Audience Q&A
5:00 - 6:00: Optional sit-down dinner
6:00: Silent auction closes
The colloquium is FREE and open to the public from 2 - 5 PM
*The optional dinner with limited seating starts at 5 PM. Tickets: $30
Kindly register if you would like to attend:
Enjoy a seated dinner with the panelists in the Hennessy Project Space gallery catered by Outlandish.
DINNER REGISTRATION CLOSED
Panelists:
Raye Jones Avery
Raye Jones Avery serves as the Executive Director of the Christina Cultural Arts Center, where she has been the major player in the establishment and continuation of the arts in the Delaware. The legacy of Dr. James Newton has influenced the center’s programming since 1969 to preserve African American cultural heritage and drives her passion for persistent arts education in the classroom.
Terrance Vann
Artist Terrance Vann began to describe his work as neo-Afro-surrealism, having seen the disparity of genres attributed to African Americans. Vann infuses elements of contemporary street culture into his work and explores the human experience though symbols and colorful graffiti-like iconography. He is a recent DDOA Individual Artist Fellowship recipient.
Jamie Loper
Jamie Loper has the distinct perspective of growing up in the Loper family. His father and grandfather were both distinguished artists, educators, and collectors bringing creativity to center stage from an early age. His father, Wilmington born Edward Loper, Jr, headed the Visual Arts Department at Christiana Cultural Arts Center and his works have been showcased in the prestigious Barnes Foundation as well as numerous national exhibitions and cultural festivals.
Moderator:
Dr. Julie McGee
Dr. Julie McGee has written scholarly articles on the subject of black studies. In 2006, McGee penned the book, David C. Driskell: Artist and Scholar, the renowned African American artist. McGee served as curator of African American art from 2008-2016 and transitioned to full time faculty in 2016 in the Departments of Africana Studies and Art History. She was a Rockefeller Humanities Fellow at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage before coming to UD.
