Above: Samantha Modder, Wearer of All Socks, 2022, digitally manipulated ballpoint pen print on adhesive paper, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist.
The Art Effect at the Trolley Barn Gallery in Poughkeepsie, New York, will present an exhibition of contemporary Black art from October 6 to November 10, 2023. The exhibition, titled “quiet as it’s kept,” will explore the depths of Black expression and translate its complex aesthetic dialect.
The exhibition is curated by the gallery’s Youth Curatorial Team in collaboration with guest curator Janice Bond of ART IS BOND. gallery in Houston and Hudson Valley artist Ransome. The exhibition features a variety of media, including sculpture, photography, portraiture, painting, and installation art, that show the diversity of experiences from artists of the African diaspora.
“We hope to explore the overlap of experiences between Black people while celebrating the variety in the expressions of those experiences,” said Jaime Ransome, Trolley Barn Gallery Manager. “It’s the combination of methodology and empathy in these works that makes this exhibition special.”
The exhibition features work by Black artists from the Hudson Valley and across the country, including Destiny Arianna, Mary Boatey, Harrison Brisbon-McKinnon, Vernon Byron, Steven Cozart, Dellis Frank, Tyrone Geter, Dondre Green, Stella Hendricks, Clarence Heyward, Tylear Jefferson, Imani Jones, London Ladd, Samantha Modder, Ari Montford, Emmanuel Ofori, Ashley Page, Ransome, Mark A. Reed, Tammie Rubin, Theda Sandiford, Melissa Small Cooper, Raven Smith, Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, Stephen Tyson, and Lisa Diane Wedgeworth.
As part of The Art Effect’s youth workforce development programs in creative fields, the Trolley Barn Gallery uses an innovative mentorship model to train youth to curate the gallery’s exhibitions and develop new initiatives for community engagement and placekeeping.
“An exhibition like this is so important to Poughkeepsie because fostering that community relationship, and the familiarity of it, allows for peace and comfort within a group of people beyond familial lines,” said Mary Boatey, youth curator and exhibiting artist.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of free public events based in arts education, placekeeping, and curatorial activism. These events will include an artist talk, a community still life workshop, and a First Friday After Hours guided tour.
The exhibition is supported by Humanities NY and Dutchess Tourism through a grant administered by Arts Mid-Hudson. Additional support comes from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Trolley Barn Gallery is located at 489 Main Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Hours are Wed–Fri, 2–5 pm, and Saturdays 12–4pm during exhibitions. Visit trolleybarn.org for more information and a virtual exhibition or follow @trolleybarngallery for updates.
