The Hard Truth: Representation and the arts
As part of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts’ three-year Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) initiative, the MMFA is presenting The Hard Truth: Representation and the Arts, a four-part exhibition and lecture series.
This year-long series will engage the complex topics related to DEAI — raising awareness for these issues in the museum field while allowing the MMFA to reflect on its own journey.
Each installation, curated by Museum Empowered Fellow Savannah Shaon, consists of works from the Museum’s permanent collection that provide a lens through which viewers can contextualize the topics and issues related to DEAI. Accompanying lectures will elevate community voices and help illuminate a path towards becoming a more welcoming and inclusive community institution.
FIGURATIVE 'REAL'ITY
On view now through March 19
Figurative “Real” ity will highlight Black and African American artists’ contributions to the MMFA’s permanent collection, while addressing depictions of the Black body. This exhibition includes works by Alabama native Bill Traylor (1853–1949) and the renowned and influential Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953), among others.
BREAKING BARRIERS: ARTFULLY ABLE
On view March 23 through May 14
Breaking Barriers: Artfully Able will bring together the work of artists with various physical or cognitive conditions in a relatively new and often unexplored segment of art history. Each artist in this exhibition is known to have lived with a cognitive, developmental, or physical impairment. Instead of focusing on stereotypes perpetrated against them, this exhibition will emphasize their contributions to the art historical canon while overcoming limitations.
Breaking Barriers: Panel Discussion:
Saturday, April 29
11 a.m. to Noon.
Free
At the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
A panel discussion will accompany the exhibition Breaking Barriers: Artfully Able and will bring together art history professor Dr. Kris Belden-Adams and local community leader and advocate Tametria Dantzler to discuss the impact cognitive and physical disabilities have on individuals and their families. This discussion aims to examine historical and present-day barriers and stereotypes affecting individuals with disabilities.
THE BIAS INSIDE US
On view June 3 through July 2
The Bias Inside Us — an exhibition and community engagement project from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) — explores the social science, psychology, and consequences of implicit bias. Bias is an innate human trait; we all have it. Awareness of our biases can help us recognize their influence and impact on our behaviors and worldview. The Bias Inside Us offers an opportunity to learn how to challenge bias in the world through awareness of one’s own bias.
Bias and Our Everyday Lives
Friday, June 9
5–6 a.m.
Free
At the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
A panel discussion exploring this innate human trait will accompany The Bias Inside Us exhibition. This panel, formed of community members, will consider questions such as: What does bias look like? How does it shape our perceptions of others? And how do those perceptions affect our community?
Featured Artist Program: Bias Inside Us
June 12–17
10 a.m. to Noon
Free
At the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Working with the MMFA’s teen summer camp and facilitated by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice program, Atlanta-based artist EL Chisolm will create a mural that addresses bias alongside community members.
TO TELL THE TRUTH: THE MMFA’S HISTORY
August 3 through October 15
On view this fall, To Tell the Truth: The MMFA’s History will feature works of art by artists that were instrumental in the history of the Museum. In addition to these works of art, the exhibition will present documents from the Museum’s first 30 years of archives, including pages from scrapbooks and excerpts from former directors’ diaries.
To Tell the Truth: Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 19
11 a.m. to Noon
Free
At the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
A panel discussion examining the history of the MMFA will accompany the exhibition. Led by Museum Empowered Fellow Savannah Shaon, panelists will discuss the social, cultural, and political currents surrounding the Museum’s early years, how those currents shaped the Museum, and the lingering impact on the Museum today. Panelists include lead humanities scholar Rev. Dr. Joan Harrell from Auburn University and Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Dr. Graham Boettcher, along with other community voices.
GENERAL INFORMATION
WHAT: The Hard Truth: Representation and the Arts
WHEN: Now through Oct. 15
WHERE: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Blount Cultural Park, One Museum Drive.
INFORMATION: mmfa.org, 334-625-4333
HOURS: Galleries, ArtWorks, Sculpture Garden, Terrace, and Store — Closed Monday. Open Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Last entry at 4:45 p.m.
ADMISSION: Free
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: The Hard Truth: Representation and the arts
