Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond
Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond: A Community Remembers, a new exhibition organized by University of Richmond Museums in collaboration with guest curator Ashley Kistler, pairs oral histories with photographic portraits of 30 Richmond residents whose lives were altered by their experiences as children and youth during the civil rights movement.
The exhibition showcases vibrant, large-scale portraits created by Richmond-based visual journalist Brian Palmer. They portray 30 Richmonders who participated in different ways in the Civil Rights Movement in Richmond, many of them as children. The portraits are a collaboration between photographer and sitter - each person has clearly chosen the way in which he or she wants to be seen, and a visitor to the galleries cannot dismiss these powerful people and their courage and determination. Each portrait is accompanied by excerpts from interviews conducted by Laura Browder, UR’s Tyler and Alice Haynes professor of American Studies, as she spoke with participants about their personal experiences.
Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond shines a beautiful light on the importance of honest conversations about the ways in which race shapes our experiences. Through these portraits and the accompanying stories, the participants are reclaiming African American history and then connecting it to the rest of Richmond history in innovative and wonderful ways.
Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond: A Community Remembers, is on view at the University of Richmond’s Harnett Museum of Art through May 10th, 2109.
Paige hosts the LookSEE podcast and is a freelance audio producer, an art lover, and a lifelong Richmonder. Her favorite place to be is in a museum. A close second is a bookstore.