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News & Press Releases
NORTH ADAMS, MA – Terry Adkins will be the featured artist for September in Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ Gallery 51 on Main Street.
His exhibit, “Darkwater: Recital in Four Dominions, Terry Adkins after W.E.B. Du Bois,” is a tribute to Du Bois – the scholar, poet and activist who dedicated his life to working for the betterment of African Americans.
“Darkwater” will open on Thursday, Aug. 31, with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Main Street gallery. The reception is free and open to the public.
Adkins examines Du Bois and his work through sculpture, prints, documents and music/text – all of which relate to Du Bois’ literary works. The show’s title comes from a book by Du Bois, “Darkwater: Voices within the Veil,” published in 1920 as a companion piece to “The Souls of Dark Folk” (1903).
“I hope visitors come away informed about the under-known facts of the greatest mind of the 20th century,” Adkins said of Du Bois.
Adkins refers to his exhibitions as “recitals,” which are dedicated to individuals whose world views are similar to his own. Past shows were in honor of Jimi Hendrix, Sojourner Truth, Jean, Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, John Brown, Ralph Ellison and John Coltrane.
Adkins’ show will be presented in connection with “The Shaping Role of Place in African American Biography,” a conference to be held Sept. 14-17 at MCLA.
The conference will celebrate the work of 20 K-12 teachers – from North Adams, Pittsfield, Dalton, Lenox, Sheffield and Great Barrington, who worked to incorporate African American local history into their classrooms.
Their effort was designated as a “We the People” project by the National Endowment for the Humanites (NEH), which awarded a $100,000 grant.
The curriculum developed through the project is linked to the creation of the “Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail” and the publication of a 250-page trail guide, to be released at the conference. Once published this September, the trail guide will be given out to county libraries and to Berkshire County schools.
Featured African Americans include civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Boise of Great Barrington, Revolutionary War veteran Agrippa Hull of Stockbridge, Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee of Lenox, ex-slave Elizabeth “Mum Bett” Freeman of Sheffield, and Civil War veteran Rev. Samuel Harrison of Pittsfield.
Adkins is an associate professor of sculpture at the University of Pennsylvania. Born in Washington, D.C., he holds degrees from Fisk, Illinois State University and the University of Kentucky.
His artwork, which has exhibited internationally since 1986, is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College, among others.
“Darkwater: Recital in Four Dominions, Terry Adkins after W.E.B. Du Bois” will be in Gallery 51 through Sept. 25.
Gallery 51 is at 51 Main St. in North Adams. It is operated by MCLA to help serve the local arts and downtown community. The gallery features the work of local and international artists, as well as artwork created by the college’s students and faculty.
Hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, 413- 664-8717, or to go www.mcla.edu/Gallery51 .
