The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) is honoring Black History Month with the presentation of a new exhibit, “It Takes a Village,” which will open to the public with a free reception tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“It Takes a Village” is comprised of six exhibitions that deal with the concept of working as a community through issues regarding family, race, gender, and age. Featured in the Main Gallery of MOAH are the works of celebrated assemblage artist Betye Saar and her daughters, artists Alison and Lezley Saar. The Saars’ work consists of two and three-dimensional assemblages, examining history and identity through the juxtaposition of objects, photographs, mixed media, and fabric.
It Takes a Village will also showcase the solo exhibitions of Wyatt Kenneth Coleman, Jane Szabo, and Richard S. Chow, with site-specific installations by artists Lisa Bartleson and Scott Yoell.
It Takes a Village will be on display at MOAH through Sunday, April 22.
The documentary photography of Lancaster resident Wyatt Kenneth Coleman chronicles the importance of engagement as well as oral history, and the role this plays in emphasizing the value of serving one’s community and family. Additionally, Jane Szabo and Richard S. Chow address similar themes of home, displacement, and sentimentality through conceptual photographs. Szabo records family history through objects, while Chow’s images fabricate a history of what might have been if he had not been an immigrant.
Lisa Bartleson’s large-scale installation of hundreds of small hand-made houses explores the act of healing through community and engagement. The site-specific work of Scott Yoell’s “Tsunami,” consisting of three thousand four-inch tall businessmen figures installed in a giant wave, represents the artist’s thoughts on the global economy and automation.
It takes a village will be on display though April 22, 2018.
In addition to the regularly scheduled community engagement programs offered by MOAH, MOAH:CEDAR, and the Western Hotel Museum, this exhibition will include a number of engagement events, during February and March. An artist talk and tour by local Civil Rights photographer Wyatt Kenneth Coleman will be offered on Sunday, February 18 at 2 p.m. Richard S. Chow will lead an artist talk and tour of his work on February 25 at 1 p.m. A book signing and artist panel discussion with the Saar family and Dr. Betty Brown will take place on Sunday, March 25 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., which will be immediately followed by an artist talk and tour by Jane Szabo beginning at 2 p.m. Other engagement opportunities, brought to the Museum by the Center for Cultural Innovation, include two workshops: Know Your Rights with the National Lawyers Guild, Saturday, February 17 at 2 p.m. and Making Art During Fascism with Beth Pickens, Saturday, February 24 at 2 p.m.
The Lancaster Museum of Art and History is open Tuesday – Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extended hours on Thursday until 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.lancastermoah.org or call (661) 723-6250.
