Art Reception – The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity

In 1915, Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). It was a way to collect information about black life in America and aid in understanding better, the unique experience that is being black in America. This was the beginning of what we now know as Black History Month, a period of celebration for the achievements of black people in America.

There is also an annual black history focus put forth by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) formerly the ASNLH. This year centers on the topic of “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity”, because, “the family offers a rich tapestry of images for exploring the African American past and present.” It is a focus on the ways in which black families in America do not exist in specific locations, often resulting in confusion as to how to represent historically this important “foundation” of African American life.

This exhibit collects from the art of the black artistic diaspora here in the Boston area. Pulling from these rich tapestries, this installation celebrates the works of 5 Black artists. Marla L. McLeod, Chanel Thervil, Anthony Peyton Young, Perla Mabel and Çaca Yvaire. Each artist influenced by their own black historical perspectives. Each childhood experienced in a different space, with different people, surrounded by a variety of genetic-ancestries and family dynamics. With each artist expressing their ideas from their distinct “black” experiences results in a rich variety of representation from unique identities with diverse perspectives. Those unique experiences have born the work that is featured in this exhibition, The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. (Marla L. McLeod)