Degrees of Visibility is a nine-year survey of more than 260 carceral spaces throughout the United States, examining the landscapes in which prisons, jails, and detention centers sit within all 50 states and territories by Los Angeles-based artists Ashley Hunt. Each photograph is shot from a publicly available point of view. One may or may […]
From October 2, 2020, to October 30, 2020, the Coleman Center hosted portraits from the ongoing exhibition series Art On The Inside from the Alabama Prison Art and Education Program. The program has offered arts and educational classes in Alabama prisons since 2003. The exhibition included drawings that express the students’ distinct experiences “in an […]
Last fall, Tuscaloosa-based artist Jamey Grimes installed their work Strata VII & VIII, (2015) in our “Pop Start A,” storefront space. The objects and environments that Grimes creates are fueled by encounters with real and imagined natural forces. The artist generates unique forms through the manipulation of synthetic materials, in this case, common corrugated plastic. […]
In early February 2020, artist Tia Simone Gardner made a quick trip to Alabama to continue work on her developing book project. Gardner is researching four homes and multiple communities that were inhabited by her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. The artist, mother-collaborator Jackie Gardener, and FAA-licensed drone pilot Jay Whitson walked boundaries and sites in […]
Memorial Meditations is a solo exhibition of sculptures and photo-based work by Birmingham-based artist Tony Bingham. Memorial Meditations pulls together objects that span nearly two decades of practice in Birmingham, the Black Belt region, and across the state of Alabama. Works in this exhibition bring together themes the artist has focused on in recent years […]
In July 2019, New Orleans-based artist Zarouhie Abdalian led a four-day workshop for young adults curious about making art in public space. Six participants were guided through the process of designing temporary site-specific artworks for various locations in downtown York. Today we’re following up with a conversation between Abdalian and student artist Brunell Smith. […]
The Coleman Center for the Arts closed its first season of experimental films for the Black Belt in the Black Belt at Larkin’s Restaurant & Deli. Lunchtime patrons watched In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth) alongside their meal. Participants from Sumter County, Selma, Uniontown, and McComb (MS) were featured in the work. […]
Panola community members are working to preserve their history of the North Sumter School. The North Sumter School was established in 1933 and was built primarily for the education of African-American children in the then legally segregated Alabama Black Belt. Coleman Center staff, Julia Brock, PhD, and the Alabama Humanities Foundation are supporting local efforts […]
On August 17, 2019, Laurel-based artist Michael Ross lead a one-day drawing demonstration and workshop. Participants learned drawing techniques, ways of looking, composition, and process. The Drawing Workshop is part of the Coleman Center’s Community Arts Workshops series focusing on creative learning experiences designed for multiple generations. These all-ages workshops encourage friends and family […]
In June 2019 Alabama-born, Minneapolis-based artist Tia-Simone Gardner began researching four homes in Alabama and Mississippi (Meridian/Philadelphia) that were inhabited by her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Gardner made a public presentation and trips to Birmingham and East Mississippi. Gardner’s work will culminate as an artist book of essays and images. This is part of […]