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Exhibitions

Upcoming Temporary Exhibit

REVISIT/REIMAGINE: The Civil Rights Era in Maryland and Parallels of Today

FEBRUARY 24, 2024 – JANUARY 4, 2025

GUEST CURATOR: THOMAS JAMES

With 2024 being the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) and Banneker-Douglass Museum are declaring 2024 as “Maryland’s Year of Civil Rights” with exciting and relevant programming, exhibitions, and partnerships to commemorate the milestone year of this groundbreaking legislation.

REVISIT/REIMAGINE: The Civil Rights Era in Maryland and Parallels of Today remembers the legacies of civil rights leaders and their effect on Black Marylanders and the United States in totality. In collaboration with Afro Charities, images of nationally and locally recognized civil rights leaders from the AFRO American Newspapers archives will be on display accompanied by the work of contemporary artists living and working in the Maryland area. 

Exhibiting Artists: Quinci Baker, Sanah Brown Bowers, Schroeder Cherry, Shaunte Gates, Kyle Hackett, Jeffrey Kent, Lex Marie, Murjoni Merriweather, Jason Patterson, Ernest Shaw, Victoria Walton, Lionel Fraizer White, and Redeat Wondemu.

Curated by Thomas James, the exhibition space will be designed to emulate that of an interior home space with books, records, and other objects scattered throughout. This layout will serve as a visual representation of intergenerational relationships and how the issues of civil rights have transformed, progressed, and regressed throughout the 60 years between the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and our current existence today. Much like the civil rights leaders of the 1960s, artists today are utilizing their artistic practices to raise awareness, and drive commentary and conversation around topics such as education inequities, race-based violence, and unjust treatment from governmental entities. Additionally, the contemporary works in this exhibition amplify issues of today including disability justice, technological surveillance, and the relationship between spirituality and trauma.

REVISIT/REIMAGINE also serves as a coming together of a future these civil rights leaders dreamed of. Their progress laid the groundwork for the leaders of today to continue to fight for rights today and continue to caretake for one another. This exhibition also displays artwork of positive self-image, communal unity, and celebrations of culture and life.

Special Thanks: Afro Charities, Association of African American Museums, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, Banneker-Douglass Museum Foundation, Inc., BGE, Friends of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, National Park Service African American Civil Rights Network, Nicole Johnson of Baltimore Read Aloud, and PNC Bank.

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 24th, 12pm – 4pm, at Banneker-Douglass Museum

 

Permanent Exhibit

Deep Roots, Rising Waters: 
A Celebration of African Americans in Maryland

This exhibition provides an overview of African American history in Maryland from 1633 through present day. Learn how African Americans throughout Maryland made lasting changes for all Americans.

  • Find out about Maryland’s first African American settler, Mathias De Sousa.
  • Learn how Benjamin Banneker was able to use his almanac as an anti-slavery protest to Thomas Jefferson.
  • See the advertisement for the slave auction Kunta Kinte was sold in.
  • Hear one of Frederick Douglass’s speeches against racism and slavery.
  • View a reward poster for Harriet Tubman while re-enacting a slave escape like that of Lear Green.
  • Explore Maryland’s ties to North Pole expeditions through citizens Matthew Henson and Herbert Frisby.
  • Listen to stories and music from Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach.
  • Discover how Thurgood Marshall fought to change the education system in the United States.

Past Exhibits

A Story to TellNovember 8, 2023 – January 5, 2024
The Radical Voice of Blackness Speaks of Resistance and JoySeptember 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023
HONOR: Celebrating Black Women’s ArtApril 19 – June 27, 2022
Freedom Bound: Runaways of the ChesapeakeSeptember 18, 2021 – March 1, 2022
The Black Vote Mural ProjectFebruary 15, 2020 – August 31, 2021
Doing the Work: Celebrating 50 Years of the MCAAHCAugust 10 – December 28, 2019
Verda’s Place: An Homage to a Valiant WomanMarch 8 – December 28, 2019
Songs of the Caged BirdJanuary 12 – June 8, 2019
Laurence Hurst Anniversary ShowJanuary 12 – June 8, 2019
Douglass Reading RoomJuly 5, 2018 – February 28, 2019

2009 – 2016 Exhibits – click here 

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