JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Come to MOSH on Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. for a lively panel discussion exploring the racial implications of “art” led by Dr. Melissa Hargrove, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Florida.
“Through Our Eyes: Racing and Erasing Art,” is part of the Florida Blue Key Note Speaker Series and will explore the racial implications of art and artistic expectations in music, urban contemporary street art, and gallery art, both locally and globally.
Dr. Hargove holds a Ph.D from the University of Tennessee and has extensively researched and developed relationships with Gullah/Geechee communities in and around the Sea Islands of South Carolina, Georgia and Northeast Florida. The Gullah are the descendants of slaves. Dr. Hargrove’s work researches the forces of tourism, development, and displacement and its impact on the group.
Meet the “Through Our Eyes: Racing and Erasing Art” Panel
Ritz Theatre and Museum Administrator Lydia Stewart curates urban art, including the Ritz exhibit, Through Our Eyes 2012: 20/20 Perfect Vision. Tying into MOSH’s RACE: Are We So Different? exhibit, Stewart will ask the question: “Art: Are We So Different?”
Paten Locke is a DJ/rapper and one of the founding members of the group Asamov, who released the album “And Now…” in 2005. Locke has joined Dr. Hargrove as a collaborator on a new Anthropology of HipHop course currently taught by Hargrove at the University of North Florida.
Overstreet Ducasse, a local artist, came to the U.S. at age six from Haiti, learning a new language and culture. He is active with Jacksonville’s CoRK Arts District. Ducasse describes himself as a “Deepressionist,” a term he conceived to express frustrations experienced by the artist along with the depth of thought and imagination an artist must exude.
Michael Faulk, a local urban artist, is scheduled to round out the panel, discussing the role of race in local art.
This MOSH event in the Bryan-Gooding Planetarium is free and open to the public, but registration is required at: http://www.themosh.org/mad.html. Registration is also available by calling 396.MOSH (6674) ext. 225 or email nrenstrom@themosh.org for details.
The Florida Blue Key Note Speaker Series is held in support of RACE: Are We So Different?, an award-winning traveling exhibit developed by the American Anthropological Association.
The Museum of Science & History (MOSH) is located at 1025 Museum Circle near Friendship Park. MOSH, first chartered in 1941, inspires the joy of lifelong learning by bringing to life the sciences and regional history. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for active and retired military; seniors; and children ages 3 through 12. There is no admission fee for children 2 and under or museum members. Admission is $5 on Fridays.
Learn more at themosh.org.