NextThreeDays: Event Display

Opening Art Reception for "History, Labor, Life: The Prints of Jacob Lawrence"
Venue: Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Directions: Google Map Link
Date: Thursday, August 23, 2018
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Event Types: Arts & Theatre, Speaking Engagements
Cost: Free

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Description:
The Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech presents an Opening Art Reception for "History, Labor, Life: The Prints of Jacob Lawrence" on Thursday, August 23, 2018 in the Grand Lobby.

A prominent 20th-century artist, Lawrence is renowned for his depiction of African-American life as well as epic narratives of African-American history. Presented in the Ruth C. Horton Gallery, Sherwood Payne Quillen ’71 Reception Gallery, and Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery, “History, Labor, Life: The Prints of Jacob Lawrence” features more than 90 works produced by Lawrence from 1963 to 2000.

Lawrence started exploring printmaking as an already well-established artist. Printmaking suited his bold formal and narrative style exceptionally well. The connections between his painting and printmaking were intertwined, with the artist revisiting and remaking earlier paintings as prints. The inherent multiplicity of this medium provided an opportunity for him to reach broader audiences.

Lawrence was primarily concerned with portraying African-American experiences and histories. His acute observations of community life, work, struggle and emancipation during his lifetime were rendered alongside vividly imagined chronicles of the past.

During his career, Lawrence received the National Medal of Arts, which is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government, as well as 18 honorary doctorates from institutions, including Harvard University, Yale University, New York University and Howard University. Today, Lawrence’s work is represented in almost 200 museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Esteemed art historian, activist, curator and professor emerita and founder of the Center for Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Leslie King Hammond, Ph.D., will give a free, 30-minute gallery talk at 6:00 pm.

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided.

The exhibition is on view through October 13th. The galleries are regularly open Monday-Friday, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm, and Saturday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

“History, Labor, Life: The Prints of Jacob Lawrence” is organized by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art in collaboration with the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and is curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg, SCAD head curator of exhibitions.

Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. Limited street parking is also available. Parking on Alumni Mall is free on weekdays after 5:00 pm and on weekends.

For more information, visit: http://artscenter.vt.edu/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/2179589908985904/ or https://www.facebook.com/artscenteratvt.