Reimagining Black Identity, Strength, and Vulnerability

The OH Art Foundation is proud to present its 1st Annual Black History Month Festival of the Arts on January 17th, 2025, at 7pm (opening night) at the Zhou B Art Center at 1029 W 35th St. in Chicago’s Bridgeport Neighborhood. 

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"Reimagining Black Identity, Strength, and Vulnerability" exhibit curated by Renee' Baker and Wisdom Baty seeks to explore the multifaceted healing nature of Black identity, shedding light on the complex intersections of strength, vulnerability, history, and future within the Black experience. 

The exhibit will showcase pieces that reframe traditional representations, inviting viewers to engage with themes of resilience, introspection, liberation, and the ever-shifting contours of identity. Artists are encouraged to challenge stereotypes and preconceived notions of Blackness, emphasizing the beauty and power that resides in embracing vulnerability, as well as the quiet strength found in moments of resistance, defiance, and healing.

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Audience will experience full range of Black lived experiences—capturing both the triumphs and the struggles, the joy and the pain, the collective memory and individual expression. The exhibit aims to create space for reflection, dialogue, and healing while embracing the depth and complexity that defines Blackness.

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By reimagining Black identity healing, strength, and vulnerability, this exhibit will offer a new vision—one that is unapologetically authentic, challenging, and transformative. Artists are encouraged to draw upon personal narratives, cultural history, and current social movements to inspire their work, creating an environment where art becomes a tool for collective healing, liberation, and empowerment.

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Selected Visual Artists

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Takako Konishi, Alexy Irving, Margot McMahon, Le'Trice Buckingham, Alpha Bruton,

Arlene Turner-Crawford, Grandeast Wright, Lavon Pettis, Alexandra Henderson, Malika Jackson,

Summer Coleman, Andrea Hill Fitzgerald, Jason Campbell, Lenin Delsol, Nichole Masani Landfair,

Isaiah Afrumu, Safiya Mirsberger Tolson, Dysen White, Scout Cartagena, Sebastian Sandu,

Sharmarke Ahmed, Jeffery Beckham, Christopher Williams, Nolan W. McCants, Renee' Baker, 

Brandy Kent, Wisdom Baty 

 

Music Performances on January 17th 2025 7:30-9:30pm

Marvin Hathaway, The Ari Brown Quartet, and Emoni Brown - Bey

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Music Performances on February 21st 2025 7:30-9:30pm

Taalib-Din Ziyad, Coco Elysses and Draizig, and Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Donovan Mixon

 
 

Inquiries contact – info@ohartfoundation.org