News

Drawing people together through art and culture was the theme of Friday night’s artist reception at the Arts Center. Even the wet, cold weather did not keep people from enjoying the multi-faceted celebration of black culture, which included poetry readings, book signings, visual art and live music. “This is a celebration of African-American heritage and their contributions,” Arts Center board member and photographer George Ligon said.

Kathy Norman performs for a crowd Friday night at the Arts Center in Uptown Greenwood during a celebration of Black History Month. (Staff photo by T.M. James)

Celebrating Black History Month at the Arts Center made sense, Ligon said, because art is an important vehicle for culture as it has the power to preserve the past and move it forward simultaneously.

Art is not about the color of a person’s skin, but people create what they reflect from inside themselves, author Clara Barnes said. The shared history of the black community is reflected in the art of those people who have experienced it.

“We’re strong people,” Barnes said. “We’re rooted in our faith, believing in our worth, knowing who we are and God created us for a reason.”

As she wandered the exhibit, Sallie Tompkins said she felt she was gaining a new perspective on her own heritage. There are common threads that run through black culture that make it distinctive including a powerful faith in God and a firm foundation in family and unity, and though they were displayed in different ways those themes could be found in almost all of the work presented, she said. Art gives the outside world a window through which to learn about other people, their traditions, history and values.

“People can learn through the arts because it’s a form of expression from the heart,” the poet said.

The value of learning is why Ligon said he was grateful to see an ethnically and age diverse crowd at the reception. Not only could the insight gained through art continue to foster tolerance and acceptance, but true understanding and appreciation. Ligon said he wanted people of all races to come to the exhibit and enjoy the art for the sake of art.

“I don’t want this to be a specifically black event,” he said.

The Celebration of Black History Month is special for the Arts Center as it opened in February four years ago, and its first exhibit was dedicated to visual art by black artists, programs director Ivy Vantanian said. This year, Vantanian said she wanted to take the event one step further and reach into art in the written word and touch on music, as well.

“We wanted to open the doors to them and say we think you’re artists too,” she said.

Tompkins said what the Arts Center was trying to build is something that has been missing in the community for a long time.

“It is a privilege to be a part of this,” she said. “... I’m very excited. It’s the birthing of a new vision that everyone can be a part of.”