New TMA exhibit highlights Black art from the South
A new exhibit focusing on the too-often-overlooked contributions of African American artists from the southern United States will open at the Toledo Museum of Art this month. “Living Legacies: Art of the African American South” opens in the museum’s New Media Gallery on Saturday, January 15. Curated by Jessica S. Hong, the exhibit will feature 24 major works acquired from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, a group that advocates for the increased inclusion of Black artists from the South in the canon of American artistic history. The exhibit is scheduled to run at TMA through May 1, 2022.
PHOTO: “The New Heaven” by Leroy Almon, part of TMA’s “Living Legacies” exhibit.
See the “Faces” before the gallery changes
An exhibition of works at Maumee Valley Country Day School’s Wolfe Gallery by Perrysburg artist Robert Vanitvelt— the first visiting artist to be showcased in an effort to celebrate the Gallery’s 30th anniversary— ends its run on January 14. Named “Faces of Change,” the exhibit features paintings depicting significant figures in African American history, from Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth through Muhammad Ali and former President Barack Obama. The Wolfe Gallery, built in 1991, houses shows from a rotating schedule of professional artists, as well as Maumee Valley students.
PHOTO: Courtesy Robert Vanitvelt’s “Faces of Change” show at the Wolfe Gallery.
TSA aims for expansion this spring
The Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) is making a final push to raise an additional $2 million for their “Next Big Thing”— expansions to their current building. Aimed at adding a new annex along Adams St. and expanded stairwell to the building, the new additions will significantly increase the building’s capacity, allowing an additional 140 students to enroll, a 20% increase over current numbers. With over 200 students left on a waitlist every year, unable to be enrolled due to limited space, the school hopes to begin construction on the expansion this spring. For more information or to donate, visit ts4arts.org/nbt.