Black on Black on Black on Black Faculty Exhibition Opening Celebration | Saturday, September 24 | 12-6

The Black on Black on Black on Black Faculty Exhibition will be held on Saturday, September 24 from 12pm - 6pm at Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign and the School of Art & Design, 408 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign.

Join us to open Black on Black on Black on Black, a collaborative exhibition by faculty artists Patrick Earl Hammie, Stacey Robinson, Blair Ebony Smith, and Nekita Thomas.

Black on Black on Black on Black will open to the public at 4pm, preceded by a day of events celebrating Black creativity through writing, music, and art.

Starting at noon | Krannert Art Museum, the School of Art & Design, and the Pygmalion Festival, including food by The Stuft Bird food truck and activities for all ages.

12:30 pm | Live, outdoor jazz performance by Reginald Chapman and Pressure fit.

1:30 pm | Outdoor reading by Nabil Ayers, author of My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for my Father and Discovering my Family, sponsored by Pygmalion Festival.

3 pm | Join us for an Artists Panel Discussion with Patrick Earl Hammie, Stacey Robinson, Blair Ebony Smith, and Nekita Thomas. Moderated by Rachel Lauren Storm, Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Learning.

4 to 6 pm | GALLERY OPENS; Public reception catered by Neil Street Blues with music by DJ CK and DJ Silkee in the Link Gallery, sponsored by the School of Art & Design and College of Fine and Applied Arts.

About the Exhibition

Black on Black on Black on Black is an exhibition with interactive programming, co-created by the Black faculty at the School of Art & Design, that draws from lived experiences and Black speculation, featuring works across visual art and design, socially engaged practice, video, movement, and music. This exhibition and programming invites us to experience, explore, and reflect on Black identity, history, collectivity, healing, innovation, education, struggle, and joy.

The exhibition will feature Black faculty in the School of Art & Design through the lens of the Black Quantum Future as proposed by Philadelphia-based activists and theorists Rasheeda Phillips and Camae Ayewa. The collaborative exhibition will explore Black identity, collectivity, positionality, healing, innovation, and education as explored via a multi-leveled/multi-dimensional immersive, critical, and openly reflective space.

This re-visioning of the Faculty Exhibition recognizes the legacy of Black knowledge and production in ways that supports the ongoing efforts by the School of Art & Design, Krannert Art Museum, College of Fine and Applied Arts, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign towards addressing and celebrating our unique diversity, equity, and inclusion.

A lecture series, community conversations, sound installation, and a catalogue is planned in conjunction with the exhibition.