Gallery Openings at African American Cultural Center

Pittsburgh audiences can enjoy an opening reception for these extraordinary collections on January 26 at 5:30 p.m until 9:00 p.m. All collections will be on exhibit beginning Friday, January 26 until Sunday, April 1 at the August Wilson Center, and are free and open to the public.

Transformative Space, drawn from the N’Namdi Collection, gives context to the evolving state of America by twenty-nine Black artists from the mid-20th century to the present. Betye Saar, Robert Colescott, Jack Whitten, Norman Lewis, Howardena Pindell, Chakaia Booker, and Rashid Johnson are included among the influential artists whose powerful works are on view. Transformative Space: The N’Namdi Collection is organized by Kilolo Luckett, acting curator of Visual Arts, and is on view in the Claude Worthington Benedum Gallery.

Exhibition Hours:
Wednesday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Reflect Reinforce features a global fashion eco-collaboration founded by Tereneh Idia of Idia’Dega. This exhibition highlights a time capsule of forward-thinking fashion designs developed in partnership with Ologesailie Maasai Women Artisans (OMWA) in Kenya and The Beading Wolves of Oneida Indian Nation. Reflect Reinforce is organized by Kilolo Luckett, acting curator of Visual Arts, Reflect Reinforce is on view in 1839 Gallery.  

Exhibition Hours:
Wednesday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Dynamics of Gender: African Art From Chatham University explores how the gendered body is expressed, represented, and reinforced in traditional, sub-Saharan African art from Chatham University’s exceptional collection, and how these objects embody discrete functions within social, economic and religious systems. Works of art in the exhibition include a Gelede mask from the Yoruba culture of Nigeria used in rituals that honor older women, Mende Sande Society initiation masks that feature their ideal of femininity, and male and female sculpture pairs from the Ewe of Togo, the Fang of Central Africa and the Dogon of Mali. This exhibition is curated by students of Chatham University Department of Fine Arts.

Exhibition Hours:
Wednesday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

(Event Image Information: Robert Colescott, Knowledge of the Past is Key to the Future: A Prayer to Saint Maurice, Acrylic on canvas, 85” x 72.5”, 1986)