Perspectives on the Past brings together over 20 paintings, prints, photographs, mixed media works, and sculptures by 14 internationally recognized artists of African descent that address defining moments and concepts in American history. Focusing on historical figures and events as well as cultural memories from familial and ancestral pasts, the work in this exhibition expands the limits of what has conventionally been labeled as “American history” by reconsidering familiar moments in the nation’s past and introducing lesser-known narratives. All selections are drawn from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art whose mission is to “bring focus to the full range of African American visual creativity and its essential place in the history and discourse of American art.”
Educational programming included assemblies with the guest curator, Susanna Gold, and workshops with Class of 1957 Resident Artist, Tawny Chatmon, as well as connections to the Arts, History, Language, AEIOU & Pollyanna curricula.
