Visit
Art and Literature in the Galleries
Read the selected book, look at the art, and become part of the Ackland's Art Museum's popular Art and Literature series by joining the discussions on the third Thursday each month, during the Ackland's extended evening hours. Discussions are co-facilitated by Leslie Balkany, program coordinator, and an invited scholar.
SUMMER 2012 SERIES: "Black Experience in Modern and Contemporary Art and Literature"
Reading selections will broaden appreciation for and explore relationships between works on view at the Ackland this spring and summer, including those in the exhibition Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper. Two novels and a collection of short stories address issues of displacement and re-placement of African Americans and their expected—and unexpected—results.
Free to Ackland members, high school students, and valid UNC OneCard holders | $5 for all others.
As space is limited, pre-registration is required. RSVP to acklandRSVP@unc.edu or 919.843.3687.
14 June, 6:30-8:00 PM
Toni Morrison's Sula explores the complex attachment between Sula Peace and Nel Wright, beginning with their childhood in a primarily black Ohio neighborhood. Choices they make on their respective paths to womanhood question what it means—and costs—to exist and survive as black women in America. Works in Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper open rich visual doorways to understanding more about these characters’ experiences.
Co-facilitated by Rebecka Rutledge Fisher, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature, UNC-Chapel Hill.
19 July, 6:30-8:00 PM
Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day explores the clash between ideas commonly held in urban, “modern” America and cultural beliefs deeply rooted in religion and spirituality. Like Sula, this novel grapples with a tender but painful relationship between two women, in this case the mystical healer Mama Day and her liberated great-niece, Ophelia. Among the Ackland works we will bring into our discussion will be Alison Saar’s Smokin’ Papa Chaud and Cool Maman, both of which reference transformational energy as well as identity stereotypes.
16 August, 6:30-8:00 PM
The protagonists in Lost in the City, Edward P. Jones’s award-winning collection of short stories, are black men and women living in Washington, D.C., during the 1960s and ‘70s. Characters that transcend their meager existence in unexpected—and sometimes heroic—ways figure prominently in fourteen beautifully crafted stories. Several of these characters could have been models for works on view in the summer exhibition Director’s Choice.