“Psychedollia,” the William Grant Still Art Center’s 39th Annual Black Doll Show will be held from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15, and will showcase a movement in joy, through Black life, music, art, fashion and popular culture.
The free exhibition cites 1960s soul and funk as a source of inspiration while also referencing flower power genres of the 1990s, hip hop and house/techno scenes. It is an exploration of cultural imagery as depicted through the beauty and diversity of dolls.
Psychedollia is designed to be a celebration of the monumental and small, ordinary and extraordinary events that depict Black life in all its facets.
The Art Center show is the longest-running display of Black dolls in LA. Collectors and doll artists return time and time again to offer dolls from their collections that fit with the year’s theme.
The Black Doll Show was started in 1980 by the friends of the William Grant Still Arts Center and was inspired by the “Back Doll Test,” conducted in the 1940s by pioneering psychologists Mamie and Kenneth Clark. Their study concluded that many African-American children preferred playing with White dolls over Black dolls.
An opening reception for the show will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Workshops will be held at 2 p.m. on Dec. 21; Jan.11, 2020 and Feb. 1, 2020. A materials fee may apply for some workshops.
The gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays at the center, 2520 S.
